Tá An Cogadh
by Faith16
Summary: What would happen if Hermione had a twin sister – what if she was in trouble and their parents tried to keep them separated? Voldemort has returned to the wizarding world with plans of domination - will anyone stand opposite of him? M-Rating later
1. Chapter 1

Title: Tá An Cogadh

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the computer I type my ideas on. JK Rowling owns everything pertaining to Harry Potter and Joss Whedon owns everything pertaining to Buffy and Faith the Vampire Slayers as well as those on Angel the Series.

Author's Note: This story is mostly AU. Anything that is not familiar to the books, movie, or TV show are considered to be an alternate universe. Hermione and Faith are 15 years old.

Summary: I'm not sure, this idea came to me and I thought I would pursue it. What would happen if Hermione had a twin sister – what if she was in trouble and their parents tried to keep them separated? Then again, Voldemort has returned to the wizarding world with plans of world domination – will anyone stand oppose him?

888

Hermione was on the train ride home from the fourth year of Hogwarts. The ride was a somber event, the memory of what happened just a few short weeks previously still fresh in everyone's mind. Cedric Diggory's body had been returned to Hogwarts with Harry, though neither had returned unscathed – Cedric unfortunately hadn't survived the trip to the Riddle graveyard as he was killed trying to protect Harry.

Harry hadn't spoken a word to anyone after Dumbledore rescued him from Barty Crouch Jr. who had been impersonating Mad-eye Moody for the entire school year. Hermione breathed a silent sigh of relief when she felt the train slowing down and the train station ahead, she generally liked the quiet it helped her think but this was tense silence. It was slowly driving her mad.

The trio exited the train, seeing the Weasley's almost immediately because of their red hair. "I'll see you guys later, my parents are on the other side of the barrier." Hermione replied after exchanging pleasantries with Molly and Arthur.

"Bye Hermione."

Hermione exited the barrier reentering the muggle world. "Mum." Hermione smiled. "Dad."

"Hermione." Brennan smiled hugging his little girl close to him.

Nerissa added, "-darling."

"I've missed you both." Hermione said as they started walking towards the parking lot.

Nerissa nodded, "-we missed you too. How was your school year?"

Hermione remained silent for several minutes while they loaded her trunk in the boot thinking of the best way to describe the year she'd just finished. "It was eventful." She answered softly getting into the back seat of the family car effectively halting any more questions. Her parents exchanged a look before getting into the car and before long they were driving out of London.

888

"I have a confession to make." Faith responded softly when she saw the blond detective head her way. She saw Angel and Buffy a few feet away, a look of shock on her face and the vampire just looked worried his hands cuffed behind his back. Within minutes her story had been told and she was lead down the cell block to a holding cell, pending on a trial and sentencing.

It was days later when Detective Lockley came to her cell and commented, "-it's time."

Faith looked up and stood. Handcuffed, she followed the armed officers down the hallway and into a small bus that had seats with chains to keep prisoners in their seats but also a chained door blocking the prisoners from the driver and the officer escorting them.

"Please state your name for the court." The judge requested, staring at the brunette wearing the orange jumper from the jail.

"Faith Lehane." Faith answered carefully.

The judge glanced down at the paper in front of her before requesting, "-state your date of birth and where you were born."

"September 19, 1988. Boston, Massachusetts." She answered.

The judge glanced up from the brunette's file and folded her hands together. "My file says differently." She replied sternly before questioning, "-would you care to modify any of your answers?"

"My birth name is Perdita Faith Granger; I was born September 19, 1979 in London, England." She said knowing she was unable to escape her past before her watcher, but added, "I legally became Faith Lehane in Boston on September 19, 1988."

The judge seemed satisfied by the answer. "Now how do you plead to the charges that were disclosed?"

"Guilty."

"Before I make a ruling, I would like for you to have six sessions with a court appointed psychologist." The judge commented while writing something down. "We will reconvene this hearing in two weeks time." The sentence was punctuated by the gavel being slammed against the desk. The armed guard led her from the courtroom.

The two weeks and the six sessions passed quickly for Faith and soon enough she was lead out of the holding cell and into the transporting truck before being led into the courtroom. She paused only a moment when she saw two familiar looking people with brown hair – one with curly hair and the other with short thick brown hair. The guard gently led her to her seat, the handcuffs heavy on her wrists, around her waist and her ankles.

"All rise, court is now in session." The bailiff began. "Judge Katherine McKay is presiding."

"Thank you, you may take a seat." Judge McKay said. "Miss Granger, I've reviewed the file written by the psychologist." She continued getting right down to business. "I've also had my clerks get in touch with your parents; you'll notice them in the courtroom. Do you have anything to say?"

Faith stood and responded, "-no ma'am." She wasn't sure why the politeness came back as she reclaimed her seat, but she was sure it had to do with her parents being so close.

"Mr. and Mrs. Granger." Judge McKay began addressing the pair. "Do you have anything to add, I believe my clerks and the arresting detective have briefed you on what has transpired."

Faith kept her eyes forward, refusing to meet the eyes of her parents. She heard them shuffle forward to stand near where she was seated. She was only partly interested in the fact that her sister was not present but knowing how their family worked she wasn't really surprised.

"Your honor we only have a basic understanding of your laws here." Nerissa began softly. "Would it be prudent to ask that she be returned to the United Kingdom and to her family?"

Judge McKay looked thoughtful before answering, "I had harbored that thought, but unfortunately due to her crimes I don't foresee that being possible. Unless the arresting detective rescinds on the charges or allows her to be deported back to England even though she is here with a valid visa and is considered a United States Citizen."

"Where is your guardian?" Brennan asked Faith before looking up at the judge with an apologetic expression on his face.

Faith looked up to see the judge nod to answer the question. "Professor Dormer passed away about a year and a half ago." She answered softly. She knew her parents were aware of her potential status but she wasn't sure about the judge.

"So you've been on your own all this time?" Nerissa asked in her motherly like tone, nearly causing Faith to roll her eyes. "How did you survive?"

Angrily Faith turned to her parents for the first time since she was taken in by Professor Dormer. "I'm not completely helpless, mother." She hissed, sneering at the word mother. "Hermione and I have been on our own longer than you've played mom. Where is Mione? Hm? At a boarding school for ten months while you two focus on the practice and each other?" She turned back towards the judge. "I'll take prison over going back to them, your honor."

"Perdita!" Nerissa gasped.

Judge McKay cut into the argument that was surly going to start. "I've made my decision." She announced getting the three brunettes attention. "Because you are a minor, I would like to keep you here in Los Angeles to do some community service while satisfying the stipulation provided by Detective Lockly. She has petitioned that you serve a total three years at the LA Penitentiary for Women." She continued. "Perdita you do have the option of petitioning to have your case reviewed in eighteen months if you are on good behavior."

Faith nodded once showing that she understood her sentence.

"You'll complete a total of 100 hours of community service." Judge McKay advised. "Do you have a preference as to the type of service you do?"

"No ma'am."

"Do you have anything to say to the court before I close this case?" Judge McKay asked gesturing towards Faith's parents.

"Three years?" Nerissa questioned. "She will be nearly eighteen by then."

"Thank god, you can add." Faith muttered crossly, earning a stern look from the judge. "Sorry, ma'am." She replied softly.

"Yes, Detective Lockly has decided not to prosecute Miss. Granger as an adult for the crimes that have been committed based on the recommendation of the psychologist. That would mean by law she could be released as early as age eighteen."

"Your clerks didn't tell us what the crimes that Perdita committed." Brennan stated. "You keep referring to them, but you haven't notified the court of what they are."

Judge McKay looked slightly surprised at his comment. "Miss Granger, would you like to advise them what the crimes are?"

"Assault and battery here in LA that caused a death."

"Perdita!" Brennan gasped. "How did this happen?"

Faith looked down. "It doesn't matter, I'm here now to make things right." She answered. "Tell Mione that I say hi."

888

"Mum?" Hermione called coming down the stairs. "Dad?" She added walking into the kitchen. It'd been a quiet couple of days between her and her parents. Neither person wanting to talk about much that had happened while she was away – which was slightly worrisome for Hermione. She and her parents always had an open relationship and now it seemed that they were closing her out.

Walking back into the sitting room she found a picture of her and Perdita when they were four years old or so. They were in matching red holiday dresses with matching smiles on their faces. She often wondered what happened to her sister, her parent's never telling her about the missing teen. In fact, they didn't really seem to miss her.

"What's this?" She whispered seeing two used tickets to Los Angeles, California that were dated the beginning of May of that year. "Odd, why would they be going to the States?" She murmured. She wasn't aware that they knew of anyone in the States, and it didn't look like it was for a dentistry conference.

It was six o'clock exactly when her parents walked in the front door to find the table set and dinner nearly completed. "Hello darling." Nerissa greeted kissing her cheek. "How was your day?"

Biting her tongue at the need to mention the discovery of the ticket she replied, "-productive." She looked at her dad who was loosening his tie and said, "-dinner is almost ready; why don't you two go upstairs and wash up."

"Thank you, Hermione." Brennan said before adding, "-it smells delicious."

Twenty minutes later Hermione stood to clear the table and calmly asked, "-what was in Los Angeles?"

Both of her parents glanced worriedly at each other before Brennan finally answered, "Perdita."

Shocked at the response she grabbed the counter. "Why is Perdita in Los Angeles?" She asked. "In fact, where has she been all this time?"

Nerissa stood up and approached her daughter but stopped at the glare she received. "Your father and I were blessed with two very special children, Hermione." She finally sighed. "You are a witch, a talented one at that and Perdita..." she glanced helplessly at Brennan.

"Perdita is, or was, a potential slayer." Brennan finished for his wife. "She needed to be taken to be trained by what is called the watcher's council just like you need to be trained by Hogwarts."

"Why didn't you tell me?" She asked.

Brennan glanced at Nerissa before answering, "-you both were so young when Professor Dormer came to collect Perdita that we didn't know how to tell you."

"But why didn't she come home?"

Nerissa's heart broke a bit at the question. "Her situation is different than yours, dear."

"You go to a school and have holidays." Brennan explained carefully. "She doesn't."

"Professor Dormer explained that she would need to be completely immersed into that way of life. Whether or not she would be called to be the slayer – while the chance was rare but still possible – she needed to fully understand her duty."

"Doesn't explain why she's in Los Angeles and why you went to see her." Hermione reminded her parents after several moments of silence to ponder what they told her.

"Perdita got into some legal trouble." Brennan finally told her. "We were there to find out what we could do to help her situation."

"And?"

"There's a possibility that we won't see Perdita until she's released from their legal system at eighteen."

"I want to see her." Hermione said her voice shaking at knowing her twin was in trouble and was upset that she didn't know about it – that she didn't sense it. "I need to see her." She stressed when it looked like her parents were going to argue.

"I'm not sure that's possible." Brennan said softly, his heart aching for his daughters.

Hermione narrowed her eyes, "-why?"

"She's very angry with us." Nerissa said sadly.

Hermione snorted, "-she's angry with you, not me." She turned on her heel to leave the room calling over her shoulder, "I'll find one way or another to get to LA to see her, with or without your help."

End pt 1

Author's Notes: Name pronunciations - Perdita (PER-di-tah) and Nerissa (neh RISS ah)


	2. A Closer Look

Title: Tá An Cogadh, pt 2

Author's Note: Falsted School is located in Essex, England. We aren't sure exactly where Hermione grew up in JK Rowling's world so I decided to pick a place that was fitting.

888

Brennan looked at the amber colored liquid that filled his glass tumbler, he was sitting in the study thinking about all that had happened since he and Nerissa brought the twins home from the hospital. Smiling he remembered how happy he had been, he was a father. The first couple of months were hard, surely but he loved each of his girls more than he thought possible.

The dentistry was kept open, his partner, Edward Pitz, doing most of the work as he and Nerissa took time off to bond with the children. There were days though that he had to go into work to help out and couldn't wait to come home to help his tired wife. He knew that she was overwhelmed with the knowledge that she had twins but he often saw her smiling softly at both of their daughters.

The first several years were glorious for him or so he thought. Perdita's words to Nerissa stung him hard. _"I'm not completely helpless, mother." She hissed, sneering at the word mother. "Hermione and I have been on our own longer than you've played mom. Where is Mione? Hm? At a boarding school for ten months while you two focus on the practice and each other?"_

He could hear the venom in her tone and had to wonder how and when it happened. He knew Nerissa was closer to Hermione finding the bubbly toddler easier to handle than the rambunctious toddler that Perdita had been. Perdita was always into something, he thought fondly. He had tried to shower both of his girls with love and attention, not wanting to favor one over the other. It didn't help that when they had sent them to primary school that Hermione was more scholastically involved than her sister.

He frowned when he remembered that he and Nerissa had sent them away to an open boarding school which meant that they could come home or stay at the school for the night if they needed to be there early or had a group project they were working on. He tried to stay active in their education, going to school functions and such, but it became difficult when Edward had decided to move to the States to pursue dentistry there. The Granger's bought his half of the business and gained more clients when he decided to move on.

It was a while later when Nerissa entered the study. Quietly he pulled her onto his lap, hugging her around her waist kissing her shoulder before whispering, "-do you suppose we're doing the right thing?"

Nerissa sighed, "I don't know, Brennan." Turning she looked into his amber orbs continuing, "I hate keeping Hermione away from her sister."

Brennan smiled, "Perdita always did take care of her while they were at school."

"I just don't want Hermione hurt." Nerissa said. "I feel that we've already failed Perdita."

Pulling her closer to him, smiling as she relaxed into his embrace and kissed her forehead as she laid her head on his shoulder pondering how he was going to tell his wife what was on his mind. "Perhaps we should let Hermione go."

"What?"

"Shh," he soothed carefully before continuing, "Hermione hasn't been able to find closure with Perdita leaving. If I recall correctly she had spent the night at school only to come home and find her twin sister, protector and best friend was gone and the only explanation she received was that she was going away for educational purposes and that she wasn't going to be coming back." He sighed, "-it's no wonder she threw herself into her studies and began staying nightly at Felsted."

They were silent for several long moments both pondering what to do now that Perdita had unexpectedly come back into their lives; the fire crackling was the only sound within the den. Brennan took another drink of his brandy, letting the alcohol slide down his parched throat.

"She got her owl from Hogwarts not long afterwards and threw herself into her magical training and the magical world." He continued softly. "She needs this Nerissa."

Nerissa sighed, "-you're right Brennan." Standing she grabbed his glass of brandy taking a sip before pulling him out of the chair to stand next to her. "We'll tell her in the morning."

Kissing her forehead he whispered, "I love you."

Smiling up at him she echoed, "I love you too."

888

"Hey." Angel said softly.

Faith echoed, "-hey."

"How are you doing?"

Faith shrugged, "-pretty good, I guess. I did sign up for this."

"Regretting the choice?"

She shook her head, "-bad day. One of the girls in the yard tried to build a rep by throwing down with me. She had low self-esteem and a home-made knife so-"

"Oh." He responded. "Is she," he hesitated, "-you know, alive?"

Smirking she nodded before her expression turned somber, "-she lives to tell the tale. Took the knife away and I can't say much for the wrist it came in."

"So you didn't kill her." He said as if checking.

She looked down saying, "I really wanted to." She glanced up at him. "Took a big beating from the guards too."

"Sorry."

She shrugged, "-earned worse. Guys like us kind of got it coming."

Nodding he said, "I had to sing Barry Manilow."

Snorting she asked, "-you're kidding."

"In front of people."

"And here I am talking about my petty little problems." She returned trying not to laugh.

"Just wanted to give you a little perspective." He responded.

She couldn't help it, "-Copa Cabana?"

He grimaced, "Mandy. I don't want to dwell on it."

Chuckling softly she responded, "-the road to redemption is a rocky path."

"That it is." He agreed.

"You think we might make it?" She asked her tone worried though her stance tried to pull off a confident air.

"We might." He nodded. "Food getting any better?"

Snorting she shrugged, "-you know it's not that different from what I grew up on. It's a little one note. Eating the same thing everyday."

"I wonder what that's like." He retorted dryly.

"Right." She laughed. They continued to talk until the guard came and told her that her time was up. She nodded and looked to Angel trying to think of something to say to him.

"I'll come again." He promised before they hung up the phones and she was led out of the visitor's area.

It was several days later while Faith was in the yard that she got called by the guard. "Prisoner 430019 come to the gate, you have a visitor." Concerned if not a bit confused, Faith approached the gate and the guards there. "Prisoner 430019 entering the prison." One guard called after hanging up the phone and waiting for the buzzer to buzz allowing the door to open causing her to follow the guard who was waiting for her.

She paused a moment when she got to the visitor's area not seeing the person she expected it to be, but she couldn't find herself being disappointed. Taking a seat she looked at the whiskey colored brown eyes and the mass volume of brown curls and the heart shaped face of her twin sister. Hermione picked up the phone first and gestured for her to do the same thing.

"Hello." Hermione said a little bit nervous of the situation.

"Surprised mum and da let you out of their sights." Faith muttered earning her a chuckle from her sister. "How've you been, Mione?"

"Okay." She answered carefully.

Faith remained silent for several moments before asking, "-what's wrong, Mione?"

Taking a deep breath and releasing it she looked into the matching whiskey colored eyes of her sister. She looked older than Hermione imagined; her hair hung just past her shoulders and was a dark chocolate brown color. "A student at school was killed." She finally said. And then it seemed as though she couldn't hold anything back and she started telling her about Hogwarts, Harry and Ron.

It was several moments after Hermione finished that Faith was able to say anything. "Sorry I can't be there for you Mione." She said. "But look at you." She continued gesturing vaguely. "You're all grown up and don't need to have big sis hanging around protecting you any longer."

Hermione's eyes narrowed, "-that's not true Perdi and you know it. And twenty minutes don't make you that much older than me Perdita."

Smirking at the reaction of her sister Faith simply retorted, "-no? I can't protect you anymore Mione, I can't even protect myself without landing here." She left the comment about twenty minutes alone. They'd been having this argument since they were old enough to understand the slight age difference.

Shocked Hermione leaned back. "Mum and da never did say what happened. Only that you had gotten into some kind of legal trouble."

"Yea, I can't imagine that they're terribly proud of me right now." Faith retorted dryly. "Not that they ever were." She added bitterly. "I beat up someone and he died." She said softly interrupting whatever Hermione was going to say.

"Oh Perdi, I'm sorry." Hermione said without pity. "I can't imagine what it's been like for you the past couple of years and now." Pausing a moment. "Don't give up Perdita."

"You know me, Mione." Faith said softly. "Take care, yea?" She asked seeing the reflection of the officer behind her look down at her wristwatch before nodding at Faith who turned her head slightly to look at the guard.

"Yea." Hermione affirmed. "I'll be back when I can." She promised before they said their good-byes and Faith was escorted back down the hallway.

888

When Hermione got back to London she was found by Kingsley and Tonks, who she'd met at the end of fourth year, as she was leaving the terminal. "Mr. Shacklebolt." Hermione greeted the tall black man who was disguised very well as a muggle that never failed to make her feel small and insignificant. "Tonks." She added to the willowy auror with bubble gum pink hair.

"Wotcher Hermione." Tonks greeted back.

"What are you doing here?" She asked carefully. "Has something happened to my parents?"

"No, Hermione." Kingsley assured her. "We're here to take you to Order headquarters for your protection. Albus has already explained the situation to your parents." He explained softly.

"Oh." She nodded. "Okay."

"Your parents packed your things for next year, which is waiting for you at headquarters; they seemed kind of glum when we were there." Tonks said as they walked with the teenager between them. Both of the aurors kept an eye out for danger as they walked through the airport.

Hermione looked down at the observation from the female auror. "My parents and I had a disagreement." She explained softly. "But I'd much rather not talk about it." She added carefully seeing Tonks glance down at her. The rest of the journey to Order headquarters was quiet between the three companions.

"Read this and think only of this." Kingsley said thrusting a slip of parchment into her hands.

'_Grant me entrance into #12 Grimmauld Place home of the Order of the Phoenix.'_ Closing her eyes, after passing the parchment back to the tall auror, she thought only of the line and when she opened them she noticed that the houses #11 and #13 started moving apart and #12 was appearing out of nowhere. Once the house stopped moving, the trio looked around before Kingsley led the way up the stairs and into the darkened house of #12.

Following them, she found herself in the kitchen looking at some very familiar faces. "Hermione!" Molly exclaimed before pulling her into a bone crushing hug. "It's so good to see you. Are you hungry, dear?"

Nodding she allowed herself to be led to an open seat at the table next to Ron who was shoveling food into his mouth and across from Remus. "Ron." She greeted. "Professor…I mean, Remus, how are you?"

"I'm fine, Hermione." He responded a kind smile on his face. "And how are you? You're looking a bit knackered." He asked, his blue eyes showing his worry at her present state.

"Long flight." She responded carefully.

"Flight?" Ron asked. "Where were you?"

Biting her lip she thought about her answer. "I was visiting my twin in California." She finally answered causing complete ciaos to run throughout the room – mostly from Ron.

"I didn't know you had a twin." Ron said calming down once realizing that she refused to say anything further while the room was in utter pandemonium. "Why didn't you say anything about her?" He added quietly.

She shrugged, "-what's there to say?" She laughed bitterly. "That she was taken away when we were 8 years old and my parents didn't seem to care that she was never going to come home?" Stabbing her slice of turkey on her plate she looked up. "No wonder Perdi is so cross." She stood up. "I'm tired, where am I sleeping?"

Shocked by the words that flowed out of the usually level headed witch she gestured with her hand. "On the second landing, third door on the left. Ginny should be in there now."

"Thank you." She whispered before fleeing from the room.

End pt 2

Author's Notes: The dialog between Angel and Faith is from the episode Judgement, Season 2 of Angel the Series and belongs to the talented writers under the creator Joss Whedon. I just like the conversation between them and wanted it to be in my story. :0)


	3. Letters from Home

Title: Tá An Cogadh, pt 3

888

"Mail call!" One of the guards, Faith knew as Olivia, yelled quieting the row of rambunctious female prisoners who stood closer to the doors to see if they got mail. "McCloud." She called before she started handing out letters. One by one the prisoners that received mail got the letters and packages that were sent to them.

Faith remained on her bunk, she never got mail anyways. It'd been several weeks since she last saw Angel and maybe a month since she saw her twin. She thought often about what her sister told her. She was best friends with a wizard with a destiny, similar to her own, though she still had parents and no raving lunatic after her. At least not anymore. Kakistos was dead and had been for at least a year, possibly more – her time in the coma did a number on her memory and sense of time.

"Granger." Olivia called. "Perdita?" She tried again. "Faith?"

"Huh?" Faith said coming out of her thoughts to see the guard looking up at her.

"You got mail." She replied holding the envelope out for her to grab. Stunned Faith jumped off the top bunk and walked to the cell door and grabbed the envelope.

"Thanks." She murmured looking at the large envelope not knowing who would be writing her or why really. Opening the envelope she pulled out a letter from her dad and some thick paper that was folded and had a weird seal holding it closed. Deciding to read the letter that came from her dad she climbed back on her bunk and put the other papers on the bed next to her.

"_Dear Perdita,_

_I'm writing to apologize for the way your mother and I responded at your trial. It was a big shock to us and we were unsure how to handle the situation. The last thing we were aware of was that you were leaving for Boston with Professor Dormer. I hope things are going well for you and that if you need anything you can contact us. I also wanted to let you know that you're mother doesn't know that Hermione sent me a letter to get to you. She was worried about letting Hermione see you, I suppose she thought that it would damage Hermione to see you as you are, but I felt that both of you needed the closure that only seeing each other would bring._

_I miss you terribly, my daughter. I know Hermione thinks that I don't regret letting Professor Dormer leave with you the way that she did, but I do. It was so hard to watch you in the back seat of that car and watch as you drifted out of our lives. I almost wish that you were a witch like Hermione so that you would be here and safe, but I know that you're special in your own right. I know you're strong and independent, though sometimes I wish you had needed me and your mother more than you did._

_I remember how you used to get into everything, driving your mum up the wall and dragging Hermione into the mix, and our home wasn't nearly as full without you. I could never be disappointed by you; I hope that you know that. Even with this roadblock in front of you that has separated you even further from us. You must have been in a dark place to have done what you did and you don't need to explain it to me. Just know that I'm here for you and that my arms are opened and waiting for you to come home._

_All my love, my sweet daughter,_

_Your father"_

She couldn't help but almost be moved to tears. Out of both her parents, her father seemed to have never ending love for her. He was always the one who helped her when she struggled with her school work or was there to talk with her after she was in the headmaster's office for fighting and protecting Hermione from the girls and the boys at school. He never seemed to give up on her when all she wanted to do was quit.

She knew her mother had a hard time understanding her and that she had tended to gravitate towards Mione. Hell, she couldn't help it. There was something about Mione that drew people in – sometimes it wasn't the right attention which is why she was there to fight for her sister. It was strange to think that her sister was really a witch and probably didn't really need her protection.

Shaking her head at her thoughts she turned to the thick paper that had to be from Mione. Opening it she looked at the neat handwriting of hers. Rolling her eyes, she inwardly chuckled as she thought, _some things never change_. She supposed she should be glad for the small things though. It really did take her back to a time where she felt safe and valued.

"_Dear Perdi,_

_I'm sorry to have had to include da on this mission to get a letter to you but I have been put under magical protection and cannot send it myself. I wanted you to know that you're in my thoughts and even though there's a country and an ocean that's keeping us apart I will do what I can to let you know that I'm here for you. As it is, I'm writing you with a quill on parchment because I'm not at home and only have my school supplies with me. The bad thing about being such a close friend of Harry Potter's is that I get a lot of undue attention. I suppose after four years that is something I should be used to, yeah?_

_So how are you? I realize that it was only several weeks that I saw you, but I feel that I miss you more now than I did when you were first taken. I still don't know the full story about that and I fear that I've given my friends here a bit of a shock when I first got back to London. You don't hate me, do you? I missed you terribly when I found out that you were gone and not coming back. I threw myself into my schooling and alienated myself from everyone. It took my Hogwarts letter to finally come around and even then I took it as another challenge. You know me, I love challenges._

_I honestly didn't know what to think when I found the tickets to LA behind the holiday picture of us when we were four years old. Merlyn did we look ridiculous. I can't believe da allowed mum to dress us alike – must've been helplessly in love with her. They weren't going to tell me, Perdi. I can't tell you how much that hurt me, though I'm sure you have a similar idea of that pain._

_You don't hate me, right?_

_Well I've got to go. It sounds like I'm being commandeered into helping clean this house. Gah, if it's not at home it here. But I guess it's a good way to forget my thoughts right now. I can only hope that Ronald won't ask what's wrong. He's been looking at me oddly since I sort of blew my stack in the kitchen my first night here. I just can't believe mum and da thought it'd be a good idea to keep us apart._

_Well I miss you, sis._

_Mione"_

Snorting at her sister she couldn't help but jump off the bed. "Eddie." She called to the attending guard. He looked up and she waived him over.

"Granger."

Rolling her eyes, "I hate that name, Eddie."

Smirking he retorted, "-yeah, but it's on your record." Laughing at her expression he asked, "-what'd you need?"

"Pen and paper, please." She requested. "My sis wrote me. Thought I should return the favor, yea?" She explained at his curious look.

Grinning he nodded, "-right." He walked away and came back moments later with a pen and a pad of paper. "No funny business." He warned.

"Eddie." She tsked. "Really?"

Chuckling he retorted, "-still, gotta warn everyone."

"Right." She nodded. "Thanks." She took a seat on her bed and sighed. Now that she had the writing utensils she didn't know what to write.

"_**Mione,**_

_**Well you're letter was a shock to say the least. Figured seeing me behind bars would've scared you away from me, which is why I'm sure mum hasn't come to see me and probably won't. Can't say that I'm surprised that you're being put under protective custody, I would've been worried about that Headmaster of yours if he didn't.**_

_**So what's the skinny on this "Ronald" chap? Do I have to rough him up for messin' with my sis? Really, though, what's wrong? You only call people by their full name if you're annoyed with them and don't think about denying it – time away from you doesn't change the fact that I still know you the best.**_

_**Commandeered, huh? Sounds fun, but I gotta say – better you than me. I hated cleaning.**_

_**I've been better, as I'm sure you're aware. There isn't much to tell about what happened when we were eight. I remember coming home to find Professor Dormer talking to mum and da – them being home at that time was weird in itself. Professor Dormer explained that I needed to travel with her because I had a destiny...a calling. I was a potential slayer and I needed to be trained to survive what could happen next. Mum and da just sat there and listened before sending me up to my room to pack my things. Then I was in a black car driving away from the only place I knew as home.**_

_**Professor Dormer and I traveled to Boston, Massachusetts – where I legally became Faith Lehane a year after coming to America. I was immersed into my training, learning all sorts of things – not really anything I could use in the way of normal schooling. Here in America they don't have as strict educational rules like they have in England – for example, Professor Dormer home taught me to satisfy my educational requirements set forth by the immigrant department.**_

_**I don't regret the actions that put me here; I just am disappointed with myself for letting things get so bad. You could probably guess that I was called to be the slayer – you were always pretty good about catching my vague hints. I know that if this is the first time you're hearing about this you'll go check your books to find out more information as to what that means. Let's just say this means that I'm a girl who faces with the forces of darkness (vampires and demons) to protect humankind. I'm stronger and faster than a normal man and I heal quicker. It's kinda nice.**_

_**Anyways, like I sort of mentioned, during my training I read about the different slayers for the past several centuries. I also learned more about demonology and martial arts. No long after I was called my watcher was mirthlessly killed by a vampire, words cannot describe what he did to her, and I ran. I landed in a town that is saturated with dark magick and another slayer. It seems that this is where I made my fatal mistake – staying that is. The vampire was killed by my hands and I was ordered to stay with the slayer and her watcher until my new watcher came to collect me.**_

_**Well you know me; I don't play very well with others. I tend to have an issue with authority figures, especially after Professor Dormer was killed. Regardless of how we know I am, you know what happens when two alphas react to being around each other. There were a lot of trust issues and chaos ensued. I had an accident where I killed a man and I had dealt with it – the way I deal with everything. By accepting that I'm not perfect and that it was something that has happened to other slayers before me and could happen to slayers after me. It's sad when it happens, really it is, but I'm on (or was on) the front lines of a nightly battle fighting with things that make up children's nightmares. The other slayer didn't see it that way; she seems to believe that I was not okay because I didn't cry about it.**_

_**When was the last time I cried about anything?**_

_**So the watcher (the new one) tried to turn me over to the council, which threw me for a loop. I can't say that I wasn't afraid because I was. I know what the council was capable of and I panicked. She tried to tell me that it was okay, that I didn't have to run anymore. I just wanted to have something normal, Mione. I can't say what I did was right or explain my reasoning – but I joined with the mayor who was evil. I did his bidding; I was in short his assassin killing people or demons he thought would get in his way. The slayer put me in a coma after trying to kill me.**_

_**I still have nightmares thinking that I'm never going to wake up. Pretty scary stuff.**_

_**There is a light at the end of this tunnel, Mione. His name is Angel. He's my champion and he has never failed to try to keep me above water. He's the reason I'm here, I knew that in order to atone for what I did and to maybe try to forgive myself that I would have to make things right – and I'm doing that here in prison. I just have to remember to take it one day at a time.**_

_**I have no idea why I just told you everything that's happened to me, but I don't hate you, Mione. I could never hate you, you're my twin sister. I hate the situation and sometimes I hate mum and da for just letting me go. I feel like I've failed them and you, so in all rights you should hate me. Or be terrified of me. Of what I've done and what I can do.**_

_**One piece of advice before I sign off – lean on your friends, Mione, because they give you strength to continue moving forward. Sounds like they're a good bunch of mates, even if one of them has a destiny and the other seems pretty thick in the head. They mean well and I can't be there for you so you need someone.**_

_**Your sis,**_

_**Perdi – though I hate that name"**_

Reading what she wrote over to make sure that she didn't miss anything as she pondered whether or not to send this letter or not. She wasn't sure if she wanted to scare her sister away or not. She knew her past wasn't a shining example of how to be, but she was a survivor. She survived when her watcher was torn to pieces and she would survive now.

As she folded the letter she heard her sister's words in her head, _"Don't give up Perdita"_ and knew that for her sister, for Angel and for herself that she couldn't give up.

End pt 3


	4. Toady McToad

Title: Tá An Cogadh, pt 4

888

Time seemed to fly by for Faith as she attended her meetings with the counselors as was part of her rehabilitation plan directed by the court. She'd already been in prison for a while, the girls had finally stopped trying to take her down and she was left to semi peace. She tried not to think much on the fact that Hermione hadn't written her back yet. It'd been several weeks since she mailed the letter out and while she knew it was going to go to another country and then who knew where after that – but she couldn't imagine it would take her sister this long to get back to her.

Maybe it was better this way, though. She hadn't had to try and live up to her parent's expectations since she turned eight. Perhaps if she scared off her sister, her parents – regardless of what her da wrote to her – weren't going to be doing anything to help her, she would be truly alone. Except for Angel who would continue to be the light in her dark and long tunnel as she went through this new journey.

888

September 1st came and the mismatched group that made up the mysterious Order, the Weasleys', Hermione and Harry entered Kings Cross Station intending on going to platform 9¾ to catch the Hogwarts Express. A loud bark was heard causing Harry and Hermione to glance back at the large grim-like dog that was trailing after them. It was behind closed doors that Harry said good-bye to Sirius who was quickly becoming someone Harry was getting attached to.

The ride was boring; Hermione and Ron rode with the other prefects as they listened to their duties and what was expected of them along with being introduced to the Headboy, Erik Watson, and Headgirl, Emily Peterson. Soon enough Hermione and Ron found Harry sitting with Neville, Ginny and Luna Lovegood.

Hermione felt sort of empty. She had yet to write her sister back and knew that Perdi – for all of her vibrato she had little trust in other people – had probably written her off feeling that she scared her sister away. She was scared, but not because of what she'd become but what had happened to her. She just wasn't sure how to put that on paper and she guiltily realized that she had been a little too focused on what was happening to Harry and not how her sister was feeling.

She had read about the slayer, in one of the books for Care of Magical Creatures – there wasn't a whole lot of information in those books as they were generally designed to describe beasts – but there was also a reference of the slayer in one of the defense against the dark arts books. Both books claimed that the slayer was a myth because no one could prove that there really was a slayer – probably had to do with the '_One girl in all the world_' thing. It was kind of amazing to think that her sister was considered a myth to the people in the wizarding world – like vampires were fictional characters in novels in the muggle world.

Quickly she grabbed a sheet of parchment from her bag – she could feel her friends rolling their eyes at her as they thought she was going to do school work – and a quill. Quickly she wrote to her sister.

"_Perdi,_

_I'm so sorry it's been so long since my last letter. Things have been kind of complicated the last little while and I have definite fears about what the future holds. Harry was taken to the Ministry to undergo a hearing for under-aged wizardry because his life was threatened by some magical beings. These beings are by far the foulest creatures I've ever seen and hope that I will never again have to cross their paths. These things are called dementors, they are the guards at the wizarding prison and they suck happy memories from a person leaving them empty and without hope. People who are in their presence day after day slowly go crazy._

_Harry's godfather was in Azkaban (wizarding prison) for twelve years and I fear that even though he's innocent of the crimes he was sent to Azkaban for that he is quite barmy. I fear that sometimes he sees Harry as his father James and cannot differentiate the difference between the two. Harry says that I worry too much and perhaps I do._

_Anyways, two dementors attacked Harry and his muggle (means he's without magick) cousin. Harry did what he could and dispelled the foul creatures and got his cousin home. Unfortunately, the Ministry is quite blind when it comes to things that they do not understand or things that they fear. They believe Harry and Headmaster Dumbledore have gone 'round the bin and are lying to the magical community about Voldemort's return._

_The thing I don't understand is why, when it was just supposed to be a simple hearing, why did it turn into a full-blown wizarding trial? I'm worried, Perdi. I'm not sure what to do. I seem to be good for one thing in this world and that is my brains and quick thinking. Everyone says that I'm "the brightest witch of the age" and I'm afraid that I'm going to fall off that pedestal and let everyone down._

_I'm not afraid of you, Perdi, and I surly do not hate you. I've been trying to think of why you'd want me to be afraid of or hate you, but I have a feeling it's so that you don't have to worry so much about me. I'm here for you, Perdi. I want nothing more than to have you sitting next to me, protecting me as I protect those around me._

_We're nearing Hogwarts and it's my turn to travel through the train to make sure that no one is causing any unwarranted trouble. I hope you can forgive me for not writing sooner._

_Your loving sister,_

_Mione"_

She quickly folded the letter, put her seal on it and wrote a single line to her father on another sheet and turned to Harry. "May I borrow Hedwig?" She asked.

"Sure." He nodded and reached up to let his trusty owl out of her cage. He watched his best friend tie a letter to her leg and whisper the destination into the owl's ear. Then she opened the window and Hedwig flew out of the train and into the darkening sky.

"Come on Ron, we need to patrol the train." She said softly after nodding her thanks to the green eyed wizard who just smiled back at her.

Weeks had past before Hermione heard anything from her parents. It was a cold autumn day when an owl flew in and landed in front of her. Smiling she tore open the envelope that her parents used.

"_Dearest Hermione,_

_Here is your long awaited letter from Perdita. Your mum still has no idea that I'm helping you correspond with Perdita, but I fear that she's getting suspicious. So here's a belated birthday present from Perdita and me. We decided on calling her Zira, meaning arena or messenger. She is yours to use as you see fit._

_With all my love,_

_Dad"_

Wide eyes she looked at the beautiful owl with dark as night feathers and pale blue eyes. With a grin she fed her some of her bread and whispered, "-you may rest in the owlry." With a hoot the owl nodded and flew out the large window and out of sight. Standing, she made an excuse to go to the library and exited the hall. Once she was alone in the back of the library she looked at the envelope that held her sister's words on the inside.

"_**Mione,**_

_**Can't you stay out of trouble? Maybe I should ask your friends to keep you from getting into trouble. Seriously though, I have a feeling that you're right. Something about the situation you explained to me isn't right and it sort of sounds like someone is out to "shut" him up, by the sounds of these dementors and the trial, I just hope it's not something that will permanently quiet your friend.**_

_**I agree with you about the godfather situation, to a point. Prison is hard on it's own without having something present to remind you of every bad thing that you've ever done and taking away the memories that help one remain sane. I empathize with his godfather; he and I probably would have a lot in common. But whether or not he sees Harry as Harry and not as James isn't up for you to decide, Mione. From what you've told me, James was taken away from him in the most brutal fashion and then to suddenly come into the "open" and seeing that his godson is no longer a toddler but a teenager…it's got to be hard for him. All you can do is be patient and watch out for them both.**_

_**You, my dear sis, are a swot. Now don't get all shirty on me, you know I adore your swotty nature. It got me through year 3 and mostly through year 4 in school – seeing as I was more into athletics. Saying this, I feel that I need to remind you that you can't let them put you so high on a pedestal that you are unable to climb off of it on your own. There is such a thing as being human and you, whether or not you want to admit it, are human. You can make mistakes it's only natural.**_

_**Got in one, Mione. I don't want you to worry about me and I surly can't do anything to protect you while I'm in here so it seemed logical to have you hate me. I suppose being friends with the boy-who-lived and what goes along with that doesn't seem to scare you off, so why should my past be any different?**_

_**I hope you enjoy your present. Da and I had to think of a way to keep mum from getting more suspicious. I don't want her to be afraid that you're going to follow in my footsteps if you keep in touch with me. She doesn't seem to know what to do with me or my situation, so I think it's best if we keep her out of it as best as we can. Da was the one who came up with her name. I'd sorta pondered Hermes (but I couldn't do that to you, heaven knows mum has awful taste in names) or Iris, but I think Zira works. She's used to flying long distances, so you don't need to worry about her getting tired or resentful? Can owls get resentful?**_

_**Well I'm signing off, sis.**_

_**Perdi"**_

Hermione laughed softly at her sister's antics knowing that whatever was going on around her wasn't going to leak into the letters she sent to her. "Hermione?"

"Harry." She greeted looking up. "What's wrong?" She asked him.

"Nothing." He assured her. "I was more worried about you." He said taking a seat next to her. "Ron says that you have a twin."

"Yea, I do." She nodded knowing that she shouldn't lie about this. "It's hard to talk about her, Harry." She added seeing his temper flaring. "She was sent away to live with a professor of folklore and mythology in the States when we were eight." She explained softly. "I had stayed the night at the boarding school we had been attending because of a project when the professor came and collected her. I didn't get to say good-bye."

"Wow, I'm sorry." Harry said suddenly feeling ashamed. "I'm sure she misses you as much as you miss her."

The curly haired witch just shrugged. "I don't know, Harry, she's very unforgiving in some ways." She explained quietly. "She always used to get in trouble." She laughed carefully. "She was my number one friend; she always stood beside me when others were cruel. She often got sent to the headmaster's office for fighting."

"Fighting?" Harry questioned.

She looked up into Harry's emerald green eyes. "There were plenty of girls and boys that didn't like me, thought I was an officious swot and were unjustly cruel to me and she didn't put up with it. She stood up and protected me from all the spiteful things people would say about me." She replied. "Mum was always so angry with her, felt that Perdita was trying to steal the attention away from me and never did believe that Perdi was only trying to shield me in ways that only she could." She paused. "Perdita got into some legal trouble, which is how I was able to find her."

"Sounds bad." Harry responded.

"Really bad." She agreed. "My parents weren't going to tell me, but I demanded to see her. They let me go, but not without making it seem that I was going to be let down. She seems so directionless, Harry."

888

Time seemed to fly by as Zira flew back and forth between Hogwarts and California; with Hermione complaining to Perdita about Professor Umbridge and wanting to know what she should do.

"_**Mione,**_

_**Hate to say it, but I think you need to use more than just your brains against the toad. But secretly. I'm sure you remember how to be subtle, correct? I'm sure that was one of the first things that I taught you. And tell Harry that he's never going to get anywhere by verbally apposing the toad, she's got too much power behind her right now, being that she's in the Minister's pocket – a place I'm sure she enjoys way too much. She's obviously not going to be going anywhere and I dare say that she won't be playing fair. There's a definite line between legal and illegal and I'm sure that she will be straddling that line to maintain appearances. I know you're a prefect and are supposed to uphold the rules – but there is a time to fight fire with fire and now is that time.**_

_**I would talk with those twins you've been telling me about. The pranksters. I'm sure they have plenty Machiavellian (I've been studying, aren't you proud?) plans that they wouldn't mind using against the toad. But be careful, please!**_

_**As far as not learning anything magically defensive, perhaps you should start a dueling club – I think that's what you would call them. Have Harry teach, you told me he's bested you every year in that class since first year. But be careful, Toady McToad, won't be fooled for long. She sounds like she would use any means (and I mean **_**any**_** means, so be vigilant Hermione) to get what she wants; especially if she's going after the professors who are "loyal" to the school as well as to your headmaster.**_

_**If you do decide to do the duel club, keep it small with people you trust. Too many people in one area tend to raise too much suspicion, which is definitely something you want to avoid if Toady is the way I believe she is. Also, be mindful of batty witches and a towering free standing monument that looks like an overgrown curtain. Something doesn't sit well with me and I'm not sure what it could be. I keep hearing voices in my dreams.**_

_**Watch your back, sis.**_

_**Perdi"**_

Harry handed the letter back to Hermione having read the letter twice through before sitting in dumb silence. Ron had snorted over Perdita's comment about Umbridge. "Toady McToad?" Ron laughed loudly. "I like her." He added before finishing reading the letter over Harry's shoulder.

"What do you think?" She asked nervously.

"You want to put a dueling club together?" Harry asked breathlessly. "And you want me to teach?" His tone was anxious.

Hermione nodded, "-of course. I actually hadn't thought about it, but it makes sense Harry. Perdita and I believe that Professor Umbridge –" she chose to ignore Ron's cough of 'Toady McToad' as she continued, "-is far more nefarious than people are thinking and we believe that there is definitely something going on here." She leaned forward. "First with your hearing turned trial and now with her being here, they're afraid and want to keep a close eye on Professor Dumbledore."

"But don't you think that if we do start up a dueling club that she's going to think Professor Dumbledore is behind it therefore proving their theory?" Ron asked carefully. He was viewing this situation as if it were a chess board.

Hermione bit her lip as if pondering his question. "I suppose it could if we're caught." She answered. "So we just have to be careful not to get caught."

"Who are you and what did you do with Hermione?" Ron laughed.

Laughing she retorted, "I've always been here, Ron. Just never had a reason to come out of my swotty nature until now."

"What's this?"

"Granger coming out of her-"

"-swotty nature?"

"I didn't think-"

"-that was possible." The twins said in their typical twin speak as they leaned over the back of the couch on either side of Hermione.

"Ha ha, guys." Hermione retorted.

"Do you and your sister have that ability?" Harry asked carefully, his eyes twinkling as the redheaded twins flanked his best female friend.

Hermione shook her head frantically. "Not on your life. Perdi is in tuned with me, but in other ways. We've never double talked like Gred and Forge."

"You have a twin?" Gred said before looking at Forge. "Did you know?"

"No, dear brother, I did not." Forge answered. "You?"

"No." Gred replied negatively. "Why Granger, are you-"

"-hiding your twin from us?"

Snorting she said, "-yes. That's it. I don't want her to get any droll ideas from either of you."

"Truth be told, she hasn't seen her since they were eight." Harry supplied carefully.

"Sorry to hear that Granger." The twins replied at the same time. "I don't know what I'd do with out this one." Gred said to which Forge nodded his agreement.

"Life would be far less complicated." Hermione retorted dryly. Then she stood up. "Just think about it, yea?" She gestured to Harry who nodded. "Now I'm going to the library."

"There's the Granger we all know and love." The twins parroted together causing Harry and Ron to laugh in agreement as she simply rolled her eyes and exited the common room.

End pt 4


	5. December Turns Into June

Title: Tá An Cogadh, pt 5

888

It was into the Christmas holidays that Hermione was finally able to write her sister. They'd been keeping up the writing, tending to send a letter a week to each other, but since things with Professor Umbridge escalated and the DA were meeting secretly she got a bit behind in her writing. They'd had their secret meeting in Hogsmeade just a week after Perdita had suggested it and Hermione was working hard on keeping things together and Professor Umbridge wasn't helping.

If it wasn't classes, keeping the DA under the radar or Harry and his detentions, Hermione felt that if she were left to her own devises that she would go stark raving mad. And then, of course, to make matters worse, Mr. Weasley had been attacked at the Ministry and was gravely injured – Hermione bit back the tears that threatened to fall at the 'what if it had been my parents' thoughts pressed into her mind.

"_**Hermione,**_

_**Please don't think that you have to continue to unfalteringly write me. I know you're under a lot of stress where you're at, so please remember to take a moment for yourself. I don't want to lose you again. I suppose I should warn you. Part of the perks (I guess you could call them) of being the slayer, are the dreams. Sometimes they're obvious and other times it's like looking at modern art - confusing.**_

_**I keep having this dream, Mione, and I'm not sure what to make of it. I see this circular room, its dark and there's something eerie about the room. It's almost medieval with the stone walls and the torches – but that's not the odd thing. There's this towering structure, if that's the right word for it, that's in the middle of the room that has this translucent matter between it. I hear voices, Mione. I can't make out what they're saying, but I don't like the looks or the feeling of the room.**_

_**Promise me, Hermione, that you'll be extra careful. There's a point in my dream where I loose sight of you. You're standing across a man – wizard I guess – and he sends a hex (I think that's what you call it) at you, it's a purple light and you are knocked out. I don't know if you get up, Mione, and it worries me.**_

_**I counted twelve "bad" wizards and witch in the dream. The most prominent viewed one is a tall blond wizard, he wants something – badly – and he keeps seeking out a black haired wizard with a scar on his forehead. They're dueling, near the free standing monument until a group of people come in and even the score.**_

_**This is the important part; there's this dark haired woman, she looks quite mad – insane mad not angry mad – and she has a calculating look in her eyes for a moment before she strikes. She's dangerous and very powerful and I feel like a broken record when I say this but please be careful! I'm not sure I like this situation, Hermione. I've had a lot of dreams before, but none of them have made me feel like this.**_

_**Right before I wake up, I see a black haired wizard fall through the translucent matter, but he doesn't come out the other side. The spell comes from the witch, it's a red flash – I think. There are so many colors splaying in the room, so many voices both alive and otherworldly, so I can't tell for certain what the spell color is. I think this wizard dies, Hermione.**_

_**On to less frightening topics, life on this end isn't all it's cracked up to be, you know? I have meetings with my therapist every week which can get frustrating – I have to be careful what I say to them because I know they won't understand. I know therapy is supposed to be personal and private, but I still can't seem to trust the doctor. Her name is Violet, but I call her Vi for short – mostly to annoy her. Overall, she's nice but I can't seem to bring myself to confide in her.**_

_**Remember my friend – I'm not sure I can call him that – Angel that I told you about? He's been pretty constant with his visits to the facility; it's nice to know someone other than you cares about what happens to me. Anyways, I'm not sure how he talked the wardens to allow him to come in to train me on control and surprisingly we've been meditating – which you know how difficult it is for me to remain in one place for a long period of time – he says I'm getting quite good at it. My therapist thinks it's a good idea so I suppose that's a good thing.**_

_**Well I've gotta go, Mione. As always be careful.**_

_**Perdita**_

_**P.S. I'm sorry to hear about your friend Ron's father. I hope he's alright.**__**"**_

888

"Package, Granger."

Surprised, Faith stood up and walked to the bars where Eddy stood. "Thanks Eddie."

"No problem, Granger." He said before walking around giving the other inmates their mail.

_It's a box_, Faith thought wryly inwardly laughing, _just what I always wanted_, she added sarcastically. Sitting down on the bunk she opened it carefully. On top of the box there was a letter from her father. It was short, basically wishing her a Happy Christmas and wishing that she were there with them. The gift inside was what surprised her, it was a photo album. Opening it up she saw pictures of her and Mione was they were growing up.

She grimaced when she saw pictures of her on her first day of school, wearing the uniform that was required for each of the years that she attended Felsted. There were also several of her and Hermione throughout the years, holidays and birthdays but soon that was where her pictures stopped, but she noticed that there were several of Hermione. She saw an unhappiness in her eyes that she was sure that she most people missed because they either weren't looking for it or didn't know how to see it.

It was several months later before Faith heard anything from her sister. Her dreams kept getting more detailed and she saw her sister being held from behind by a dark looking wizard. She had to keep dreaming, as if to make sure her sister was okay, and struggled against the binds of being an observer when she was by nature a fighter.

Eddie had questioned her several times if she was okay, to which she would murmur, "five-by-five." Vi had tried to take a stand against her shutting people out of her life and had urged Faith to talk about what was bothering her – going as far as contacting Angel – but she would just shrug and when in the yard her eyes were more often found gazing up at the sky as if searching for something.

It was June, Faith noticed, and Hermione would soon be heading home for summer break. Her dreams had stopped, which caused Faith to believe that it had happened and that Hermione was either dead – which was unlikely because she didn't feel the loss – or alive and well. She wasn't sure if her not feeling the loss was just her way of wishing that her sister was okay or if that really meant she was ok. They'd formed a sort of bond during the past year, she had dozens of letters from the witch telling her about her life and asking for help.

"Granger, you have a visitor." Eddie called from her cell door. He was getting worried for the young teen. He'd never seen anyone so withdrawn before and he'd been working in corrections for over twenty years. She was always so full of life and now it look like she was withdrawing into herself. None of the prisoners bothered her, so he knew it wasn't that, and had to wonder if everything was okay on the home front. He hadn't seen her scribbling away on the notebook paper that she had in her cell or reading from her textbooks or reading what he guessed was letters from her family. Her photo album was on display and he often caught her gazing at the not quite identical girl in the photo before she'd sigh and look away.

When they got to the visitor's area she stopped frozen for a moment. "Mione." She whispered before taking a seat and picking up the phone. "You look terrible."

"Thanks." Came the dry retort of her sister. "I had to come, so much has happened and you are the only person I can talk to."

Faith listened as Hermione described why she hadn't been able to write for the last couple of months. She noticed that her sister was looking tired and appeared to age in front of her due to the stress and fear she was carrying. She couldn't help but blanch at hearing about what happened in the Ministry building, but was pleased that they were at least a bit prepared – due to her warnings at Christmas.

"I'm in protective custody." She said finishing her story. "I had to beg Headmaster Dumbledore to let me come and he wouldn't let me come alone. I have several members of the Order waiting for me outside."

"They'd better keep you safe, Mione." Faith muttered. "You have no idea how hard it was for me to stay here knowing something was happening to you."

"They're doing their best." Hermione said carefully. "There's this house that is magically protected so that no one can enter it unless they're invited." She looked down for a moment. "I am really worried about Harry, though; he has to spend the summer with his horrible aunt and uncle."

Faith nodded, Hermione had told her about the Dursley's in one of many letters. "It's hard to be in that situation, Mione, but from what you've told me he needs their protection."

"I know, but it doesn't make it any easier."

They were silent for several moments just looking at each other, each taking in the differences that weren't there a year ago. Hermione's eyes had changed from a whiskey color to a walnut brown color – which wasn't a big different it was just slightly startling – and her hair, while still curly, seemed to have settled down. Faith's hair had gotten a bit lighter in color but it now hung halfway down her back in nice waves, and her eyes were still whiskey colored but her they were troubled.

"I'm glad you're alright." Faith finally said.

Hermione nodded, "-me too. It was touch and go for a bit, you know?"

888

"How'd it go?" Remus asked upon seeing Hermione walk out of the gated doors back into the main area.

Hermione pondered her answer for a moment before answering, "-something's bothering her."

A hand rested on her shoulder as he led her out of the correctional facility where the Order was waiting. "I can't imagine this is easy for her."

"What do you mean?" She asked. Remus had been the only person that she had confided in about her sister's dreams knowing that he would understand. She also asked him what he knew about the slayer, which wasn't more than what Perdita or the books she'd read had told her about. It seems that people in the wizarding world truly believed that the slayer is a myth; much like vampires and demons were myths in the muggle world.

"Being here." He answered vaguely. "Being able to leave at anytime but not doing so, it's got to be hard." He finished as they reached the group that was waiting for them. Kingsley and Tonks had taken the day off to handle this mission; with them were Dedalus Diggle – who Hermione thought was a very strange wizard – and Hestia Jones. If anyone was paying attention they would have wondered why there were several adults with such a young looking teenager and why some of them were dressed oddly – she was just glad that Mad-Eye Moody hadn't come along with them, that would be hard to explain if anyone asked and she didn't like to use magic against muggles.

In the darkened alley down the street from the jail, they all touched the portkey that would take them back to Order headquarters.

"Hermione!" Ginny called rushing forward and pulling the witch into a hug. "How are you doing?" She asked softly.

"I'm fine, Gin." Hermione assured her.

"Hello ladies." An amused voice called out, getting the two teens to notice that they were alone in the library. "How was your trip, Hermione?"

Hermione turned around and met the eyes of the wizard that was talking to her. "It went well, Sirius, thank you for asking." She responded.

End pt 5

**SJ** - Thank you for your review! I'm glad that you are enjoying the story and that you're finding it original. I hope that you've enjoyed this chapter and thank you again!

**Allen Pitt** - Thank you for your comments! I really appreciate your reviews!


	6. Department of Mysteries

Title: Tá An Cogadh, pt 6

Author's Notes: This is a flashback, some things may be taken from the book and/or the movie – but since I don't have it on me, it's not exact. But the point is that I own nothing! Anything that may have come out of the book or movie belongs to JK Rowling and Company. I'm just playing around with the characters and I'm earning no money.

888

_Even through all the chaos going on around them because of the Weasley twins as they flew in the sky setting off fireworks; she forced her way around the rambunctious students before kneeling at his side – she could see Harry's pain, it was radiating off him in strong waves and she was powerless to stop it. "Sirius is in trouble!" He hissed as the pain subsided briefly._

_With minimal arguing between Harry and Hermione because she didn't believe that Sirius was in trouble. She knew that something was wrong with the lessons between Harry and Professor Snape – it didn't seem like they went on long enough but what did she know? The trio, Luna, Ginny and Neville wandered down the hall trying to decide where to go to check on Sirius. "Professor Umbridge's office is the only office that still has the floo network opened." Ron commented._

"_Then that's where we'll go." Harry decided and with a simple 'alohomora' they broke into the professor's office. "I'll contact Grimmauld Place; keep an eye out for Umbridge." He said before kneeling in front of the fireplace. His conversation was brief with whomever he was talking to as Hermione and Ron were watching in the office. Neville, Ginny and Luna were in the hallway and were assigned with keeping Umbridge away._

"_Hem hem." A voice cooed from behind them causing the trio to look towards the door. Neville, Ginny and Luna were restrained by the members of Umbridge's Inquisitorial Squad. "I believe this is against the rules, breaking into a professor's office." She added as the group of her inquisitorial squad grabbed the group to make sure they didn't escape._

_Professor Umbridge – because everyone refused to think of the cow as Headmistress Umbridge – forced Harry to sit down in the chair and leaned in close to him. She began to ask him questions about who he was contacting and asking where Dumbledore was. He refused to say anything; Hermione could see by his posture that he was barely restraining his temper as he glared at the witch in front of him. She kept with her questions about who he was trying to contact, believing that it was Dumbledore._

"_You asked to see me, Madam?" Severus Snape's cool voice sounded behind her._

"_Yes, Professor Snape, I need more Veritaserum." She said turning to face the tall wizard._

_A cool eyebrow rose, "I fear I have no more, you used the last of what I had in my stores to interrogate some students."_

"_You are a potions master, go and make some!" She practically shrieked._

_Severus was coolly eyeing the witch. "I cannot, it takes time and unless you'd like to poison the students with incorrectly made potions but then they'd be of no use to you."_

"_You're on probation!" She shrieked causing the dark haired wizard to raise his eyebrow at her statement. "You are purposefully being unhelpful and I expected better of you – what with the way Lucius Malfoy speaks of you! Get out of my office!"_

_Harry could feel that he was running out of time and Snape, though he was loathed to admit it, was in the Order of the Phoenix and could get help. "He's got Padfoot!" He called to Snape who paused and turned his coal black eyes upon him._

"_What's this?" Umbridge questioned, but neither boy nor wizard was looking at her. "Snape, what does he mean?"_

"_I haven't any idea." He said before sweeping out of the office._

_The witch glanced around the office, her hands clenching together, noticing that they were all watching her carefully. She moved carefully towards her desk that was right behind the teen. She picked up the picture of the Minister and whispered, "-what he doesn't know won't hurt him." And then she placed the picture face down on her desk before turning to Harry. "The Cruciatus curse should loosen your tongue."_

"_No!" Hermione screamed. "Just tell her Harry!"_

"_Miss. Granger?" She paused, trying to hide the calculating smile thinking that she had finally cracked the golden trio. "Tell me what?" She added when the witch said nothing._

"_About Dumbledore's secret weapon." She said softly._

"_Weapon you say?" Umbridge questioned. "What weapon?" She asked before demanding, "-tell me about this weapon!"_

_Hermione looked away before meeting the beady eyes of the professor. "It's not something we can tell you about."_

"_What?"_

_Hermione looked guiltily at Harry. "I'm sorry, Harry, but we need to show her."_

"_Show me?" Umbridge interrupted. "Fine, show me this weapon." She resolved. "You and Potter with me, everyone else stay here."_

_Umbridge followed the two as they walked a bit in front of her towards the forbidden forest. The duo were pleased the no one was outside on the grounds to see their defense professor with her wand drawn on two students as they headed towards the dark forest – who no mater what time of day it was dark. Harry hissed, "-what are you doing?"_

_Not looking at her best friend Hermione whispered, "-winging it."_

_The trio had entered the forbidden forest and once several meters inside they began looking around. Umbridge had her wand out and pointed at the backs of the two students watching her surroundings. "Well?" Umbridge said after several long minutes of quiet within the forest. "Where is this weapon?" She asked her tone sounding a bit nervous._

_Hermione looked around as if trying to find the path while Harry mimicked her movements. "Um, it should be around here." She stuttered aware that they were wandless against a raving witch who briefly showed that she had no qualms about using an unforgivable curse._

_Things progressed in a whirlwind of activities until the trio who were suddenly surrounded by the centaurs – Umbridge was them angrier just by opening her mouth and spouting about Ministry regulations. Harry and Hermione had tried to sneak away, but were unsuccessful as they were spotted. Just when things were looking grim for the pair Grawp appeared and saved Harry and Hermione while Umbridge got carried away by the centaurs. Together they raced out of the forest, Grawp staying behind, and met up with Ron, Neville, Luna and Ginny._

_Without further delay they were flying across the country side on the backs of the Thestrals – who only Harry and Luna were able to see them – towards London. It seemed like a lifetime for Hermione – who didn't like to fly in any form – before her feet touched the ground and they were racing in the visitor's entrance of the Ministry._

_It was like a maze once they got into the department of mysteries, but Harry seemed to know where they were going – he'd told them where he'd seen Mr. Weasley attacked by the snake as they continued down the path – through a series of doors. Then they were standing in a room with bookcases after bookcases filled with orbs. As if possessed, Harry led them through the room until they got to one that had his name on it._

_Things seemed to move in a whirlwind of pandemonium as things around them changed drastically. Hermione felt a growing sense of horror as she was reminded of what Perdita had written to her several months ago and had to wonder if her sister had seen all this. They were running, throwing spells left and right trying to remain aware of things. They threw open another door and fell; stopping a couple of feet away from the ground before being released and landing._

_Hermione stood and took a look around the room. Shakily she realized that something was about to happen, something far worse than what was already happening. Harry still had the orb that had his name on it as both he and Luna gazed at the towering structure._

"_Harry?" She asked fearfully. "What is it?"_

"_Voices." He answered. "Don't you hear them?"_

"_No." Hermione, Ron, Neville and Ginny said._

"_I do." Luna said. "Its garbled, but I hear voices."_

"_We should get out of here." Hermione said worried. "One shouldn't stay in one place for too long." She added strategically._

_Her words proved to be true as the death eaters that had been chasing them appeared all around them. She didn't know what to expect standing beside Luna and Neville across Dolohov, Crabbe and Macnair – Perdita's dream coming back to her. They were hurling spells at each other, using the room to move around. Hermione fell when Dolohov shot a silent spell her way, feeling her skin separate slightly as she gasped out a stunning spell before she leaned against the wall, shielded by Neville and Luna._

_Suddenly more wizards appeared, but they were members of the Order of the Phoenix and the death eaters became slightly out numbered. Remus was at her side the moment he saw her and began to heal her as best as he could._

"_Remus," she gasped, halting his movements so that he met her eyes. "It's Perdi's dream."_

_Confused he asked, "-what are you talking about?"_

"_She dreamed this; remember, I told you about it?" She breathed carefully. "A wizard is going to die."_

"_Are you sure?" He asked._

"_More sure than I've ever been, listen; Malfoy and Harry are dueling over by the veil." She said pleading with him watching him look over her shoulder to verify her claim. "We have to figure out who is it, Perdi didn't tell me anything other than it was a dark haired man. It could be anyone."_

_Remus nodded, noticing that her bleeding had stopped, as he helped her up. "Can you keep up a shield?" He asked._

"_I think so." She answered, thinking of several dozen spells that she'd looked up for occasions like this. "Protego totalum!" She cried seeing a spell hurling its way towards them. Remus kept a hand on her and she was surprised to see that the spell protected them both. As a team they helped the members of the Order and DA by keeping up the shield and shooting stunners as they looked for the opportunity to arise. "Remus," she hissed before saying, "-it's Sirius!"_

_The pair watched as Sirius dueled his cousin Bellatrix, watching as he taunted her, as they moved closer to the dueling pair. The calculating gaze appeared and that's when Hermione and Remus both attacked. Hermione sent a protego charm towards Sirius and Remus shot a silent spell at Bellatrix which she deflexed easily, looking at the pair warily._

_Dumbledore appeared at that moment binding all the death eaters, well almost all as Bellatrix raced out of the room followed by Albus. Harry followed shortly after Sirius urged him to go and make sure that the older wizard was okay assuring his godson that he was fine. Once the boy hero was gone, Sirius shakily looked around realizing that his best mate and his godson's best friend just saved his life. The group slowly followed behind – Sirius and Remus flanking the brainy witch, while Tonks, Kingsley and Moody were tending to the others._

"_How did –"_

"_Later." Hermione and Remus replied together._

"I'm still not sure how you knew." Sirius said braking into the brainy witch's thoughts. He already knew a bit about Hermione's twin sister, but he wasn't sure what she had to do with anything.

Hermione smiled softly, "I told you, it was my sister."

Sirius' eyes narrowed at her unwillingness to explain what happened. "I understand that, but what does your sister have to do with anything?"

Sighing she responded, "-it's not my story to tell, Sirius."

"But you've told Remus." He accused.

"Yes, I did." She nodded knowing it was pointless to argue. "But I had her permission to speak with Remus about her situation because I needed someone who was older to help me understand things."

Sirius' anger deflated a bit. "I'm sorry, Hermione." He sighed. "I wasn't thinking." He knew her sister was in jail, in for a crime that she'd committed and that, with the exception of before she came to Grimmauld last summer; she hadn't seen her sister since they were eight.

"Its okay, Sirius." Hermione said sadly. "I really want to have everyone meet Perdita, but she won't be able to leave the States' legal system until we're eighteen."

Sirius took several steps forward and wrapped his arms – awkwardly in his mind – around the sad witch, somehow knowing that she needed the comfort. "It'll be okay, Hermione." He said.

888

"Granger, you've got a visitor." Olivia called out.

Surprised Faith asked, "-who is it?" Angel hadn't been to see her in months and it was already mid-September so she knew it wouldn't be Hermione.

Olivia unlocked the door before leading her down the hallways. "Just said that it was your attorney." She answered opening the door to the visitor's area. She led the brunette slayer to an empty seat where a man sat on the other side of the glass.

The man and Faith stared at each other for several moments. The man was handsome, she realized, with his inky black hair that had a tint of blue under the halogen lights and his smoky colored eyes – from the lighting and the reflective glass she couldn't pinpoint exactly what color they were. The man was older than her, possibly in his thirties, but he looked good for his age. His facial features were refined, his skin was sun kissed and she could practically taste his confidence.

He picked up the phone first, his eyebrow rising as if challenging her. She picked up the phone and responded, "-so you're a lawyer?"

He smirked at her before responding, "-no, I'm an acquaintance of one of your sister's friends." He saw her eyes widen a bit before schooling her features. "No, nothing has happened to your sister." He responded carefully.

She nodded, "-then why are you here."

He pondered the best way to answer her question. "It seems that I'm here for you." The raised eyebrow from the teen in front of him caused him to smile softly. "It appears that you need me as much as I need you."

"I need no one." She growled lowly.

"My associates and I believe differently." Was his simple response.

End pt 6

**Mistress Saturn 1 **- Thanks for reading and reviewing! Also thanks for selecting to alert you with new chapters as well as new stories done by me! I think that's the greatest complement I could've ever received.

**Allen Pitt** - Thanks for the review! I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter. As for Vi, I think she's just a minor character and Faith doesn't really trust anyone but her sister and possibly Angel. She definately holds him to high standards. Thanks for your thoughts and suggestions!


	7. On The Run

Title: Tá An Cogadh, pt 7

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"_**Mione,**_

_**I'm on the run at the moment, but my…uh…captor is allowing me to write you. I can't say where I am, mostly because I don't know. I promise, when I can explain it, I will.**_

_**Take care,**_

_**Perdita**_**"**

The letter fell out of Hermione's hands landing on the table in front of her, capturing Ginny's and Harry's attention immediately.

"Hermione?" They questioned.

Shaking hands handed the pair the letter she'd just finished reading, unable to get past the thought that Perdita had broken – or had been broken out by a third party – out of jail. She just saw her several weeks previously and had vented all of her worries out on her sister. Knowing where her sister was a great comfort to her, she didn't like that it was prison, but she knew where she was and on holidays she could visit. She felt a pair of arms wrap around her shoulders.

"I'm sure she's fine, Hermione." Ginny whispered as she hugged her friend close. Ginny had seen how Hermione was before and after visiting her sister. She knew that the two shared a bond that not even time could change and that even though it had been years since they saw each other – Perdita was still the one person who knew Hermione the best. Fred and George didn't have quite the same kind of bond, it was odd in a way but it was just a new twin thing.

"What if the person who took her wants to use her powers for darkness?" Hermione whispered. Her close friends knew that her sister was a slayer – Perdita had told her it was okay to let them in on that little bit of information – and they were aware that something bad had happened to Perdita to cause her to be in jail, they just didn't know what it was.

888

Faith sat watching the group of people who had come for her during the night. The one who had been at the jail, she thought his name was Marc or Art or something more Romanian-like, was around the compound some place. His cryptic messages while in the visiting area were always short and sort of misleading.

It took her three days before she was able to convince him to let her write a note to her sister. They had been traveling then, where – she did not know – but they seemed to have arrived to their destination late last night, a week after getting her out of jail. She didn't know what to make of the structure they were hidden in. She knew it was magical, she felt the air shift as they pulled up, she just didn't know who or what they were hiding from.

The dark haired man appeared just then, breaking her out of her thoughts. "Are you adjusting well?"

She shrugged, "-suppose so."

He nodded, "-you have questions."

"Well aint that the truth." She retorted sarcastically. "Thank you for being Capt'n Obvious."

He stopped her from leaving with a gentle hand. "Please, sit." He requested. "You are angry with me and my associates. I understand that – but you are in danger."

"I'm always in danger." She said. "Tell me something I don't know."

"Your sister's involved with a secret society, nothing dangerous, but people will get hurt."

"From what Mione has told me, its war, nobody is safe."

"True." He agreed. "This is something that should have ended years ago." He said softly. "Children have been asked to lie down their lives as they stand against a dark wizard." He paused as if trying to reign in his composure.

"Alright, so where do I fit in?" She asked softly. "I can't exactly fight in this war; I have my own nightly battles to face." Neither knew if she was speaking of literal demons or her own that she had to face.

"There's another part to the Potter prophecy, something that was foretold in this coven and is unknown to the wizarding group in the United Kingdom." He started. "I have searched for some time to bring this part to pass." Without words he handed her a manuscript that looked to be 50 years old.

_There shall come a time when three are needed. One will have the power to end the darkness. Another will have logic and cleverness to give the first strength. The third will have a strategic and keen mind, whose wits are crafted on the board. There will be a prophecy of the one chosen to fight, it will be foretold on a dark evening, the prophecy will be heard by two – the seer will have no memory of her prophecy. It will say that the one marked will have power that evil will know not. There will come a time when the three will need a warrior, a warrior with awesome vigor. This warrior will be of the light and shall be pulled from the darkness. This warrior will be the sacrifice to save the chosen one. The time will come when war will fall, evil will be sent off of the earth forever more and peace will reign._

"You think this has something to do with my sister and her two friends, don't you?" She asked once she'd read the words.

He nodded, "-it's more than that, don't you see?" He paused. "You are the warrior foretold."

She sat back in her chair at his proclamation. "You're serious?" She said out of shock. "Even if it were true, how can I help?"

He was silent for several moments. "One does not need to have magic or physical strength to help others in troubled times." He started warily. "Sometimes a single person can affect thousands with one action."

"It says, 'This warrior will be the sacrifice to save the chosen one'." She read. "Sacrifice? What kind of sacrifice?"

"Only time will tell." He answered softly. "I can only promise to be here for you every step of the journey."

She stood up saying, "I need to think." Without waiting for a response she quickly walked away.

"Are you sure she's the one in the prophecy Mircea?"

Mircea looked up at the woman with mint green eyes and blond hair. "I'm sure it's her." He answered. "Who else could it be?"

The woman looked thoughtful for a moment before replying, "-well, you did say you had a dark past."

Mircea scoffed, "-be real, Stephani."

Stephani laughed, "I was."

888

It had been a week since she got the short note from her sister and Hermione still felt like she lost an arm. Ginny, Harry and Ron were becoming more and more worried about her. It didn't help that Professor Snape was now their defense teacher or that their Potions Professor was Horace Slughorn who seemed to be single-minded, but as the days went by Hermione continued to withdraw into herself.

Harry felt that he owed her so much that he couldn't even begin to repay her for her kindness and friendship – even if he could he didn't know where to start. He knew she was missing her sister but he didn't know what to do anymore. He didn't have family outside of Remus, Sirius, the Weasleys and Hermione herself so he couldn't comprehend how it would feel to no longer have any of them by his side. He knew it was a close call with Sirius in the Department of Mysteries and he was so glad that Remus and Hermione had been there to help. Even though Hermione now had a silver scar across her abdomen that would never fully heal because of Dolohov.

With no other ideas, he penned a letter to Remus and Sirius to see if they could shed some light on the situation.

"_Dear Snuffles and Romulus,_

_Worried about brainy. Need advice. Hurry!_

_Boy Wonder__"_

Harry looked over the letter, knowing that they had to be careful in case it was intercepted. Figuring it to be ok, he sealed it and sent it off with a school owl. The next day he received a package. Putting the package in his bag for later he opened the note that came with it.

"_Boy Wonder,_

_Use this._

_Snuffles__"_

Later, after everyone went to bed, Harry sat alone in the quiet Gryffindor Common room. He opened the package seeing only a mirror. Confused he muttered, "-how is this supposed to help me, Sirius?"

Suddenly the mirror flashed and Sirius' face was in the reflection. "Hiya Harry." He greeted. "What seems to be wrong?"

Heaving a sigh of relief he answered, "-it's Hermione. Her sister is no longer in prison-"

"That's great!" Sirius interrupted.

"No, Sirius, she wasn't released – she was taken."

"Taken?"

"Yes, she told Hermione that she's on the run, that she doesn't know where she is or when she'll write or even where they're going."

"Oh, I see." Sirius said. "I don't know what to tell you Harry." He added softly. "Just be there for her as best as you can."

"I have been." Harry said. "But she's started neglecting her studies. Professors McGonagall and Dumbledore are worried."

"I wish I could do more, Harry, really I do – especially with how Hermione and her sister helped me. But they've put up more wards to make sure I don't leave the house." The older wizard said. "I'll talk to Remus when he gets back and see what he thinks."

"Thanks." Harry said before the closed the connection. Wanting to keep the mirror safe – he wrapped it in an old shirt and put it in his trunk. Getting ready for bed, he decided to talk to Hermione in the morning.

The next morning when he got downstairs, he saw his friend sitting alone just staring off into space playing with the food on her plate. "Morning, Hermione." He greeted.

"Morning." She muttered.

"How did you sleep?" He asked trying to get her to open up.

She shrugged, "-fine."

"Did you do the transfiguration assignment that's due today?" He asked trying not to get frustrated.

"Yeah."

"Talk to me, please?" He pleaded.

She looked at him. "What's there for me to say?" She asked. "My sister abandoned me for the second time."

"Not by choice." He countered patiently. "The letter said that she was being taken somewhere. Maybe this is what she needs to heal."

"Right." She spat. "What she needs? It's always been about what she needs." Then it was like the anger died and she sadly corrected, "-no, I know that's not right. She's been the one with the horrible life. I'm not angry at her, Harry, I'm angry that she got taken away again."

"I know." He whispered as he hugged her close. "She'll be fine." _I hope_.

888

Faith's training began on a chilly October evening. She and Stephani worked on control, continuing the job Angel had taken on while she'd been in jail. An older Irish gentleman named Maewyn became a father figure and her closest confidant within the coven. A small group of people, she couldn't recall their names half the time, helped her with her studies – wanting her to get her diploma as quickly as possible. She found out that the man who led the group was named Mircea – she had to roll her eyes at the attempt she'd made on trying to remember his name – and she'd heard that name before she just couldn't remember where.

She'd brought up Angel once and Mircea had told her that the brooding vampire was aware of her leaving the prison saying that he would not be coming after her. Faith shuttered at the thought of an angry vampire tracking them down in order to make sure she was safe – because she knew he felt a kinship to her if not slightly responsible for her. She'd miss him as he was the first person – alive or otherwise – to never give up on her.

"_**Dear Mione,**_

_**Sorry it's been so long since I last wrote. Time here has flown by and now November is almost here. Happy belated birthday! I hope it was a good day for you.**_

_**Well as promised, the place I have been relocated to they call it 'the coven', but I'm not sure why because it doesn't appear that they do any magic. It's protected, that much I know but it makes me wonder who or what they're hiding from. Then again it could be a coven thing – never been to one before so I couldn't tell you for certain.**_

_**I'm doing okay but I have so much going on upstairs that I don't know where to start. I've found a confident here within the coven. It's an older gentleman named Maewyn. He seems to be a pretty decent guy, especially when you compare him to Mircea – that name sounds so familiar, but I'm not sure why. I'm not sure what to say about Mircea, there's something ancient and dark about him but I can't seem to figure out what it is. It's troublesome.**_

_**So how are things at Hogwarts? Are you keeping out of trouble? Better be! Mum and dad don't need another trouble maker in the family. That title has been and will continue to be mine. Outside of slaying, it's the one thing I do well.**_

_**Sorry to keep this short but I've got to sign off. My training hour with Stephani approaches and I've got to prepare myself. I know I left some large gaping holes in this letter and I'll explain try to everything later. I still have lots to talk to you about.**_

_**Love,**_

_**Perdita**__**"**_

End pt 7

**Allen Pitt: ** Thanks for your review! I hope you're not too disappointed that it's not Sirius that's visiting Faith. Faith compairing Voldemort to the Mayor would be pretty amusing so we'll have to see if she comes up against him in that situation.

I would like to thank everyone who has favorited my story and have asked for update reviews! I'm glad that you're enjoying it. Please let me know if you have suggestions or questions.

Faith16


	8. Meeting Cormac McLaggen

Title: Tá An Cogadh, pt 8

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It seemed as though everything fell into place for Hermione upon reading the letter from her sister. She started actively participating in classes – annoying those around her – but causing not only Harry, Ginny and Ron to breathe a sigh of relief but Professors McGonagall and Dumbledore. Even though she was mostly back to normal, it seemed that there was something still bugging her as she retreated to the library to do research.

Picking up a muggle history book that was hidden deep within the Hogwarts library she started to flip through the index. Perdita was right, the name 'Mircea' sounded familiar but neither girl could figure out why. Flipping through the endless chapters of muggle – because she knew that Perdita wouldn't know any wizarding folklore – history books that the library had she began to get frustrated.

Pulling out a sheet of parchment she penned a note to her sister.

'_Dear Perdita,_

_Happy Belated Birthday to you as well! I'm happy to hear you're okay, though I fear that I had a bit of a mental block knowing that you may or may not be safe. I realize your title as a slayer makes things far more complicated than if you were just a muggle. Please be careful!_

_I'm not sure what to say about school here and now as things have gotten darker. I don't know if I ever told you about Professor Snape – the potions master? Well, they've brought in a new professor to teach potions because Professor Snape is now teaching our defense against the dark arts class – mind you he is one of the better teachers but there is so many rumors circulating around the wizard._

_The new potions professor, his name is Horace Slughorn and I'm honestly confused as to why he's our potions teacher. He's knowledgeable, don't get me wrong, but he seems to be more interested in who his students know rather than what they know. He truly plays on the strengths of his students in hopes that they'll remember him as they set themselves in the world and possibly become famous or well known. Harry told me that Professor Slughorn only came back to Hogwarts because Harry was a student._

_Speaking of Harry, I'm not sure what's going on with him. He says that he's working with Headmaster Dumbledore getting extra training but that he's also trying to get something – he won't say what it is or else I would help him. I wonder if it has anything to do with the prophecy that we found in the Ministry._

_I've been invited to join the "Slug Club" because of my excellent grades and knowledge, but I'm not sure I want to go to these "get together" that he's hosting. Most of those who attend these meetings are pureblood wizards and witches. Harry and I are the only two who aren't considered pureblood – I don't know if I told you that Harry's a half-blood because of his parents and we both know I'm considered a muggleborn – that have been inducted into the club. Anyways, so there's a ghastly seventh year Gryffindor who also attends the club meetings who has taken to skulking around me. It's maddening. Please stop laughing at me Perdi, it really isn't funny. He's loud and arrogant. Completely opposite of me and I find him a boor._

_The Headmaster seems to be very conflicted lately, as if something is truly bothering him. I often see him staring off onto the grounds lost in thought. I can't figure it what's wrong and at the same time I'm trying not to read too much into it, but this is me we're talking about._

_So tell me more about Maewyn and Mircea. What do you mean when you say, "-there's something ancient and dark about him but I can't seem to figure out what it is"? Perhaps I can help you sort through your muddled thoughts._

_Well I've got to get going, I've got plenty of schoolwork to do and I see McLaggen coming this way._

_Love you,_

_Mione__'_

"Hermione!" Cormac greeted. "Pleasant seeing you here today."

Hermione just raised her eyebrow at the older wizard. "McLaggen." She greeted stiffly choosing to ignore his other comment as it was plain silly to think that Hermione Granger would be anywhere other than the library on any day of the week.

He watched as she folded up whatever it was that she was writing, when he approached her table, before glancing at the book open in front of her. "Doing some muggle research?"

She chose to ignore his question by closing the book in frustration and grabbing her things. Preparing to leave the library she was stopped by a gentle hand on her arm.

"Ignoring me will not make me go away, Hermione." He informed her haughtily. "Now, what are you researching?"

"It's no concern of yours, McLaggen." She retorted icily. "Now, please move."

888

"Maewyn, can I talk to you?"

The older gentlemen looked up, his indigo eyes lighting up at seeing her. "Of course, Faith, please come in." He waved her to come in. He watched her look around his simple living space – which was set up a lot like her own – with a love seat and chair near a fireplace. His bedroom was off to the side through one of two doors and his bathroom was connected to both the bedroom and the living space. "What seems to be troubling you?" He asked softly noticing that she was gazing at a portrait of him and his late wife.

"Who is that?" She asked softly.

Maewyn stood and crossed the room to stand behind the brunette who was gazing at the happy smiles on their faces. "That would be the love of my life, my wife." He informed her. "Her name was Katharina and she was a fiery woman. You two would get along very well, Faith."

Faith could hear the tint of sadness in his voice. "She looks like a very lively woman and she's very pretty." Katharina had long flowing blond hair and amethyst colored eyes. She had soft features and she looked like she loved to laugh and smile. She was a real woman with feminine curves that would make any woman proud and yet she appeared that she was very secure in her body – something that Faith could appreciate.

"She was." Maewyn agreed.

Faith turned to face the man who became a quick friend to her. She'd never made friends as quick as she did with him – most of her time growing up was spent protecting her twin, sports, or later in life slayer training. She figured that she was socially retarded and there wasn't a whole lot that she could do about that. "It's my sister."

"Ah yes, the infamous Miss. Hermione." He smiled faintly. "How is she?"

"Worried." Faith shrugged. "But that is normal for her."

Maewyn directed her towards the couch and they sat next to each other. They'd been in this situation plenty of times over the time Faith was staying with them. She had so many questions and anger inside – but she had no outlet for her anger and she wasn't trained to be the kind to ask questions. Stephani's training was helping, he could see that, but there was just so much inside the young slayer that there wasn't enough time to help her rid herself of everything that was bottled inside. "What is it that she's worrying about?"

"I know there's a lot she's not telling me, whether or not she knows it." Faith started. "I know she resented me."

"Resented?"

"She hasn't said anything but I know that she liked the being able to visit while I was in prison, I did too." She admitted carefully. "She was unsure why I was taken out of jail and I know she was angry."

"Twin bond?"

She shrugged, "I've always been more aware of her than she of me." She paused before adding, "I think it was the protector in me."

"It's possible; a slayer's job is to protect those around her." He agreed.

Before she could continue Mircea rushed into the room. "Faith, we need to go."

"What?" She asked standing up. "Go where?"

A hand brushed through his black locks, messing up the usually immaculate looking hair. "The signs are all there, if we don't go now, I shutter to think what'll happen to your sister and friends."

"Go Faith, the world needs you." Maewyn said wisely. He stood up and walked towards the box that was on the mantle below the portrait of him and his wife. "I want you to have this." He said holding up a mahogany stone necklace incased in silver hanging from a plain black silk cord.

"Maewyn, I couldn't." She whispered as he moved around her to tie the silk cord around her neck.

"Nonsense." He tisked gently, before turning her to face him where he lightly putting his hands on her shoulders and looking into her eyes. "Katharina would have wanted me to give it to you. It's a protection and strength stone called the mahogany obsidian. It's designed to help you center your strength and focus. Mahogany obsidian is a gentle stone, use it for strength in times of need, to remove energy blocks and give new life to you purposes and goals."

She held the oval shaped pendant between her fingers feeling the stone begin its work and her pulse quicken. It was a lovely stone, it was large sitting at the base of her neck; the silver design simple and wrapped around the stone like a picture frame hugs a picture. "Thank you." She whispered hugging the man.

"Be careful." He whispered.

She turned to see Mircea watching them closely, something unreadable within his eyes. With more confidence than she felt she followed the taller man out of the comfort of Maewyn's room. She couldn't help but wonder if she'd ever see Maewyn again as she the words _'This warrior will be the sacrifice to save the chosen one_' flashed into her mind.

She followed him out of the coven and into the back seat of the black car that was pulled around for them. She heard Mircea tell the driver to take them to the airport and to 'step on it'. Within a half-hour they were pulling up to the terminal and the doors were opened forcing her to climb out and follow after Mircea.

Together they approached the terminal that would take them to their destination. "Mircea." She whispered. She took a moment to look over her companion. He was wearing a black leather duster that hung down past his knees, with a green t-shirt, black jeans and a pair of Doc Martins. Over the past month and a half, the people at the coven had dressed her rather well – she thought – and she glanced down at her dark blue jeans, black boots and red v-neck shirt.

"Yes."

"I'm a felon." She whispered as he leaned over to hear her. "Surely someone will recognize me."

He nodded understanding her fears. "We have taken care of it. As you can see we're not in Los Angeles anymore so the previous broadcasting they did regarding you wouldn't have reached this far." He explained lowly handing her a blue book she recognized as a passport. "We have to meet a contact of mine in London and then we will set off to protect your sister and her friends."

She opened the book and saw a picture of her staring back up at her – her name 'Hope Lyonne' written proudly underneath her picture. "Why 'Hope Lyonne'?" She asked.

"While my team has taken care of the situation in LA, I do wish to keep our mission discreet and therefore we needed a new identity for you." He explained just as it was their turn to check in. "Mircea and Hope Lyonne, checking in." He introduced, putting the suitcases that appeared out of no where on the baggage rack.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Lyonne." The airline employee said. "Do you have your tickets?"

He nodded reaching inside his jacket pulling out his pocketbook and removing the two tickets from inside checking them before handing them over. "Here they are."

The employee looked up at the couple in front of her. "Traveling to England, very nice choice." She commented as she began typing something on her computer.

"Yes, we're going to visit some of my family." He smoothly replied.

She smiled. "Passports?" She asked and upon receiving both of their passports she checked them on the computer before handing them back. The printer printed up something and she handed the paperwork back to Mircea. "These are your boarding passes with your assigned seating listed. I will have your baggage sent to the plane. Have a wonderful flight."

"Thank you." Mircea said before placing his hand on Faith's lower back and leading the way to the loading area.

End pt 8

Author's Notes:

Here's a picture of the necklace that Maewyn gave to Faith: http: / / www. overstock .com/ Worldstock/Sterling-Silver-Mystical-Medallion-Mahogany-Obsidian-Necklace-Peru/4810648/  
And the link for the meaning of the stone: http: / / obsidian-mahogany. html (Just make sure to take out the spaces)

**Allan Pitt**: Thank you for your review!

**Sakura Lisel**: Thank you for your review! I hope you keep with the story and thanks for favoriting it. That means a lot to me.


	9. Landing In London

Title: Tá An Cogadh, pt 9

888

Nearly eleven hours later, Faith followed Mircea off of the airliner. She thought she was going to go crazy within the cabin of the plane and it had only been the subtle distractions of Mircea and the movie playing in the background that kept her from bouncing off the walls – or going postal as the Americans would say. Yes, she spent time in prison and the first few months of being behind the prison walls were hard on her – but she got used to it. It sort of became a comfort to her. But then Mircea walked into her life and flipped it completely upside-down changing everything. He seemed to have a similar problem, which was interesting because he was able to sit for hours pouring over books in the darkened library of the coven with no problems.

As they stood in the customs line she thought about the man at her side. He was a mystery to her, one that she didn't understand and she wasn't sure that she liked it. Internally scowling she recalled that she never like mysteries as it was more of Hermione's thing. Hermione had the patience to sit down and work through and analyze things – Faith didn't. Faith had always been more active of the two with a penchant for getting in trouble, climbing trees and jumping off things.

The customs line didn't take as long as Faith recalled from her time traveling to America when she was eight. Perhaps it was more effacement here in the United Kingdom – either that or it was the sheer number of incoming international flights that passed through Heathrow everyday. Mircea did most of the talking to the airport employees, which suited Faith just fine as memories flew through her brain of her last time to Heathrow and examining the people surrounding them.

It was sunny outside, something that seemed weird for her as it was November in England but that didn't stop her from shivering at the cold wind that blew by. Mircea shrugged off his jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders causing her to murmur her thanks. He nodded before hailing a taxi and when it stopped Mircea held the door open for her to get in first.

"Where ye goin'?" The driver asked glancing back at them.

"Bookshop on Charing Cross Road." Mircea answered shutting the door. Faith noticed that the luggage that he'd collected from the baggage claim area after going through customs was suspiciously missing. Maybe she was loosing her mind.

"Right." The driver said and sped off into the day.

888

Hermione was in the library when Ginny found her. "Hello Hermione." Ginny greeted taking a seat across from her friend.

"Hello Ginny." Hermione said looking up at the red haired witch and smiling.

They worked quietly for a while before Ginny looked at the book Hermione was reading through. "What are you reading?" She asked curiously.

"Muggle history." Hermione absently mindedly told her. "Something Perdita said got me thinking."

Ginny leaned forward interested. "Vlad Tepes or commonly known as Vlad Dracul III?" She read aloud. "Wasn't there a vampire by that name?" She asked curiously. Her friend spent even more time in the library than normal – Ginny often had to drag her out for meals or check on her after Quidditch practices. The older witch seemed happier since the correspondence with her sister picked back up, but Ginny was worried that something would happen to alter her friend's happiness.

It didn't help that McLaggen seemed to always be hanging around – ever since he wasn't chosen for the Gryffindor team. She had no personal opinion of the obnoxious wizard but she did think he was slightly better than her brother when it came to keeping skills. She was surprised when Hermione admitted that she'd thrown the confundus charm at the burly seventh year which cost him his spot but was secretly thrilled that the brunette witch had a sly nature to go along with all the book knowledge she had. She had to wonder what Perdita was like, if she was the complete opposite of Hermione or what.

"He was rumored to be." Hermione said. "Vlad Tepes was said to be the most gruesome ruler in Transylvania. He was known as Vlad the Impaler."

"Sounds painful." The redhead quipped causing the brunette to chuckle.

"I suspect you're right."

"So Perdita mentioned something about Vlad the Impaler?"

Hermione shook her head. "Not directly, no." She sighed. "She mentioned a name in her letter, 'Mircea' and said that it sounded familiar to her. It sounds familiar to me too; I just can't remember where I've heard that name before."

"Mircea was Vlad Tepes' brother." A male voice supplied from behind Hermione. "Or his grandfather." He added when Hermione turned to look at him. "It's all rather vague, but I suppose that's what happens when you have children named after you."

"McLaggen, I didn't know you knew muggle history." Ginny said for Hermione knowing the brunette was thinking it too.

He shrugged carelessly. "My deviously handsome looks are only a front for my vast intelligence." He grinned at Hermione's snort of amusement. "My mum wrote an article about the Dracul family before my first year at Hogwarts for a college course she was taking to pass the time. I helped her with the research." He said honestly taking a seat next to Hermione and for the first time she didn't go rushing off with an excuse of having to be someplace else.

888

They climbed out of the cab after Mircea paid the driver and stood on the darkened street. The sun was slowly setting in the west as she glanced around the slightly busy streets. As she was moving her eyes back to face Mircea is when she saw it. Next to the bookshop they were standing in front of was a grimy looking windowed storefront. She glanced up to see if there was a name to the shop and saw that it said _The Leaky Cauldron_.

"Everything alright, Faith?" He asked.

"Shouldn't you be calling me 'Hope'?" She asked not looking away from the faded sign hanging above the door.

He chuckled, "I suppose you're right."

"Am I seeing things?" She asked vaguely gesturing to the pub noticing that the people on the street were walking past it without a second glance. Sure people stopped at the record shop and the book shop but it didn't appear that they saw the pub.

"No, you're not seeing things." He answered stepping closer to her. Placing a hand on her lower back he led her towards the door. "It's a magical block that keeps out people without magic in them from seeing it."

"You mean muggles." She said and at his look. "Mione mentioned that muggles are people who don't have magic in them. Kinda like our parents."

"Yes, exactly." He nodded. He pulled the heavy door open and allowed her to step in first. Together they looked around the darkly lit pub. If the outside was dirty it didn't compare to the inside. There was a thin cloud of smoke stemming from a witch in the corner who was surrounded by other witches – all older.

With his hand still present on her back he began to walk through the pub, her at his side. "Ah, there you are." He spoke softly causing Faith to look at the tall figure that stood up to greet them.

"Mircea." The wizard greeted his voice soft and silky.

His voice was nearly hypnotic to Faith as she took the opportunity to take in the man's appearance. He was tall, he was thinner than Mircea and his hair was shoulder length and inky black. His skin was sallow and his eyes were dark – in the dim light it was impossible for her to make out exactly what color they were. The resemblance of the two was almost shocking – they looked like they could be brothers or cousins. _Interesting_, she thought.

"Severus." Mircea greeted. "This is Hope."

The man, Severus, bowed his head in her direction as they took a seat at the table. "Hello." She said, her Boston accent disappearing and her natural accent coming back knowing that she was back in her homeland. It was odd, she didn't think she'd miss being in England but when they had landed in Heathrow Airport she knew that notion was silly. If she was honest with herself, she didn't think that she'd ever step foot back on English soil – at least not alive. She was sure that Professor Dormer would have brought her home if she'd died during the time she was in the care of the watcher as a sign of respect. Faith realized that she wanted to return the favor but there wasn't much left of the Professor – not after the cave was torched.

"I see that you are well, Mircea." Severus said after taking a sip of the drink in front of him.

She was surprised to see a tankard placed in front of her and Mircea, but the server didn't stay around to talk with them. Shame too, she was hungry. The two talked shop more as she kept a steady eye on the pub around them. She was a slayer and her training with Stephani had reminded her that she needed to be more attentive. The curvy woman was heaven sent and had taught her everything she knew – which was a lot considering. The older woman – only by a couple years – showed Faith was it meant to be the slayer. She reminded her that the Slayer was not only her title but who she was and that it came with great responsibilities. She was finally ready to take on the full extent of those responsibilities.

"Are you ready, Hope?" Mircea asked softly.

It was then that she noticed that both Severus and Mircea were watching her. "Yes." She answered. The trio stood up and Mircea stepped away for a moment to get a room for the pair leaving Severus and Faith alone at the table. "It was a pleasure meeting you, Severus." She said carefully.

He nodded before glancing up at the man several feet away. "Might I offer you some advice, Miss. Granger?" He asked softly.

"How?"

He smirked, "-you have an uncanny resemblance to Miss. Granger who is a student at Hogwarts."

She chuckled, "-defense?" He nodded with a slight incline of his head. "Professor Snape." She acknowledge before answering his previous question, "-you have advice for me?"

"Do not let Mircea bully you." He began, glancing at the other man. "He needs you more than he'll let on." He paused a moment. "Trust shouldn't be freely given, Miss. Granger. It should be earned."

"Should I trust him?"

Severus looked thoughtful. "Trust your instincts, Miss. Granger."

888

"Hermione!" A male voice called out from behind her.

She slowed her pace, much to Ron and Harry's displeasure. "Cormac." She greeted when he followed into step next to her. "How is your day?" She asked softly.

"Better now." He grins at her.

"You are an incorrigible flirt, Cormac McLaggen." She teased, to which he bumped her shoulder with his arm. They entered the great hall, taking a seat at the Gryffindor table – Harry and Ron sitting across from her as Cormac took the spot next to her. She was surprised when her owl landed in front of her. "Zira?" She questioned, fear creeping into her voice as she recognized the letter she'd sent to her sister still tied to the dark owl's claws. The owl hooted softly, pale blue eyes watching her mistress with sad eyes. Standing abruptly she ran from the room ignoring Harry and Ron's questions.

Cormac accepted the letter and watched the owl fly out of the hall. Turning it over he noticed it was addressed to 'Perdita Granger' and without thinking he raced off after her. He saw her standing near one of the many window's several floors up from the great hall and as he got closer he could see the tear tracks running down her cheeks. She looked up to see him standing there.

"Something must've happened to her because she's always accepted my letters." She whispered.

Cormac took a step closer. "I'm not sure that's what this means Hermione." He replied honestly. "Perhaps your owl couldn't find her."

"But Zira's always been able to find her." Hermione said brokenly. "What if something's happened to her? I would never know."

Cormac tentatively put his hand on her shoulder. "Who is Perdita?" He asked softly.

"My twin sister."

Cormac paused for a moment before asking, "-aren't twins supposed to be connected?"

Sadly she looked away, "I was never as connected to her as she was to me." She swallowed. "I always hated that I couldn't hide things from her, she always knew when something was wrong. Whenever anyone at school teased or bullied me, she always knew." She paused. "And now she needs me and I can't even tell if she's alive or not." She broke down and cried.

The wizard, completely unprepared for her shift in emotions was left with the notion that he had no idea what to do. He was seventeen and still didn't handle crying witches very well. He pulled her close to him and hugged her close, surprised when she wrapped her arms around his middle pulling herself even closer.

End pt 9


	10. A Field Trip Through The Snow

Title: Tá An Cogadh, pt 10

888

Severus sat at his desk pondering the meeting he'd had with Mircea and 'Hope'. He was taken aback when he first saw the teen walk into the Leaky with Mircea, wondering how Hermione Granger ended up in London and why was she with Mircea. It was only after they approached him that he caught the subtle differences between the two. This girl lacked the insufferable attitude around her. He watched as she kept her eyes on the patrons of the pub and how her confidence never once failed.

Her hair was different than his student's – though it was nearly the same shade and more manageable than the obnoxious curls that the other had. The eyes were slightly off in color; this version of Miss. Granger had more of a warm brown color – though no less troubled than the witch. They were about the same age and height though the girl nearing him had an athletic build to her.

He recalled what he said to her before he left her alone with Mircea, feeling that he should remind her to stand up for herself knowing that she could lose herself in the adventure that she was heading into – much like her sister did every time with Potter.

"_Are you ready, Hope?" Mircea asked softly._

_The question seemed to surprise her as she glanced away from the pub to meet their eyes. "Yes." She answered. The trio stood up and Mircea stepped away for a moment to get a room for the pair leaving him alone at the table with the brunette teenager. "It was a pleasure meeting you, Severus." She said carefully._

_He nodded before glancing up at the man several feet away. "Might I offer you some advice, Miss. Granger?" He asked softly._

_Her eyes widened a bit and she struggled with trying to school her features. "How?"_

_He smirked, "-you have an uncanny resemblance to Miss. Granger who is a student at Hogwarts."_

_She chuckled, "-defense?" He nodded with a slight incline of his head. "Professor Snape." She acknowledge before answering his previous question, "-you have advice for me?"_

"_Do not let Mircea bully you." He began, glancing at his long time friend. "He needs you more than he'll let on." He paused a moment. "Trust shouldn't be freely given, Miss. Granger. It should be earned."_

"_Should I trust him?"_

_Severus looked thoughtful. "Trust your instincts, Miss. Granger."_

Mircea started his approach back to them and Severus was surprised to feel a crunch of paper wedged into his hand.

"_Please give this to my sister." She requested before stepping towards Mircea who, blissfully, missed the interaction between the pair._

He'd put the paper in his pocket and didn't pull it out until he was safe in his office at Hogwarts. The crumpled paper sat mocking him on his desk; and even thought he could see the writing on the paper in her slanted, neat writing he couldn't bring himself to read the words. He had to figure a way to get it to the insufferable know-it-all without her knowing that he'd seen her sister.

He flicked his wand at the paper, the crinkles straightening out and the paper looked newer. Another flick of his wand had the paper folded and attached itself to the small box with the stone wrapped inside. He knew the significance of the stone and was curious as to where 'Hope' had gotten it from.

He called forth his owl and placed it within its claw. With subtle changes to his owl's appearance he directed him what he needed him to do, basically telling him to drop it on the table during the owl post. The owl hooted and took flight.

The morning brought Hermione into the Great Hall, where she sat despondently between Cormac and Ginny. Cormac could tell that she was eating herself up inside and that worried him. He could see her love of life slowly fading away and there was nothing anyone could really do about it. Breakfast was a quiet affair between the group the owl post flying in just minutes after they'd started eating. Hermione jumped a bit when an object with a letter attached landed in front of her.

Taking the letter with shaking fingers she opened it up.

"_**Dearest Hermione,**_

_**Wow, that really sounds like good-bye doesn't it? It's not meant to be, Mione. I've been asked to do something, slayer related, something that may change life as we know it and I might not be reachable for a while. It'll be hard and most likely very dangerous, but I don't want you worrying about me. I have help and I'm not alone.**_

_**Growing up there have always been obvious differences between us. You are unquestionably intelligent but don't let it rule your life. Knowledge is power, never forget that, but don't let it be the reason you wake up every day. You have a wonderful personality, you're warm and caring. Sometimes I fear that you're too trusting. Don't close yourself off or cut yourself short in things not academic. Also, don't settle. Find someone that completes you, someone who challenges you and someone who respects you. And you in turn need to complete him, challenge him and respect him...or her, I won't judge.**_

_**On the other hand there is me and we both know that I've always been a rebel. Not very scholastic and always pushing to see how far I can go, but I'm loyal – almost to a fault. I care a lot about you, Hermione. You're always gonna be my lil' sister. Yes, those 20 minutes do count I don't care what you think. I'm brash while you're careful. You are patient where as I am impatient – it's amazing that I spent nearly two years in jail where all I had to do was sit and think without going insane or something. I don't think I've ever spent so much time thinking before. How do you handle it? **_

_**Storm's approaching, I'm afraid but I understand it's my duty to stand against the storm. I love you, sis. I don't think I told you enough. I have one parting gift for you, something to hopefully help you out as it's helped me. It's a rare stone, Mione, please use it wisely.**_

_**Love,**_

_**Perdita F. Granger"**_

She gathered her wits and opened the box that was attached to the note. Inside was a medium sized stone that Hermione hadn't seen except as pictures in books. _An ametrine stone?_ She thought as her mind automatically recalled the meaning of the stone. _'Ametrine is very helpful in getting rid of depression. This leads to inner peace and tranquility. Many believe that it contains the power of amethyst and citrine in one stone, making it a powerful money stone as well as an excellent via to higher psychic awareness and spiritual enlightenment.'_

Picking up the box she dropped the stone it into the palm of her hand and immediately felt a wave of peace surge through her body; it was slightly scary. So scary that she dropped the stone in fear.

"Hermione?" Ginny questioned moving to pick up the stone but was stopped by Cormac's words.

"Is that an ametrine stone?" He asked watching Hermione nod even as she didn't look away from the spot where the violet and golden yellow colored stone sat. "Those are very rare."

888

"Tell me again, why we are doing this in the middle of winter?"

Mircea chuckled at the tone coming from the slayer walking behind him. "Don't you find the weather exhilarating?" He playfully retorted.

"Don't be stupid." She snapped. "I haven't been surrounded by so much snow since I was a child."

He slowed his pace and glanced back at her. He'd been able to pack warm things for her to wear before they left; well he had Stephani do it for him as he didn't want Faith to be angry at him being in her private rooms. She was wearing a pair of comfortable hiking boots, jeans with long John's underneath and a dark sweater underneath the black jacket they'd gotten before leaving London. Her head was covered in a matching black hat they'd gotten at the same time as the jacket. "We're nearly there."

She sighed, "-sorry, Mircea."

Surprised he stopped and turned to fully face her. "Whatever for?"

"I've been really irritable lately." She explained. "Hermione's not using the stone in the way I had intended her to use it."

"Stone?" He questioned confused. "What stone?"

"My watcher, long before she died, gave me a stone – an ametrine stone." She said, taking a seat on the rock that presented itself. "Hermione's never been as sensitive..."empathetic" Professor Dormer called it, as I was and presented me with the stone to help me with my double depression when I first went with her." She chuckled humorlessly. "It's funny to think that I'm more empathetic than my sister who is far too trusting."

Mircea smiled lightly. "Twins generally have distinct personalities or traits." He responded carefully. "You're the slayer, you're built to protect and take care of things. It's logical that you'd be more in tune with how she's feeling and doing."

"Maewyn said something similar." She noted.

"Am I safe to assume that you sent her the stone?"

She nodded and looked away from where Mircea was standing. "I haven't felt this way in so long. It's really hard to maintain my sanity. Her feelings and thoughts are so strong."

Mircea knelt down in the snow in front of her ignoring the wetness that was seeping into his pants. "Faith, look at me." He requested softly. When she met his eyes he continued, "-you are strong, stronger than anyone I've ever met before." She looked like she was going to scoff. "You are seventeen, Faith; you're allowed to be afraid. You're allowed to grasp tightly to things that are familiar to you, but you have to know when to let go and move forward."

"How do I know when it's time?"

He smiled, "I suspect it was when you sent your sister the stone."

"You're something else, Mircea." She mused out loud.

"What do you mean?"

"You are so hard to read." She answered carefully. "I sense something dark about you. Your name, I've heard before but I can't figure out where or even when." She paused. "I'm not sure whether or not to trust you."

"I can't tell you to trust me." He replied frankly. "I'd like for you to trust me, I think that it'll make this journey a bit easier for us."

"Trust isn't given." She said repeating the words Severus told her at the Leaky Cauldron. "It's earned."

"I understand." He responded moving to stand up. He stopped at the hand she'd placed on his forearm. "Yes?"

She hesitated for a moment before saying what was on her mind. She wanted to trust him. She could see it in his bluish-grey colored eyes – she swore that she saw a hint of green within the intense depths of the of blue and grey swirl of color – that he wanted her to trust him and that he had been completely honest with her. "It might be a step in the right direction if I knew a bit more about you."

"Fair enough." He agreed before glancing around. "C'mon, we'll need to seek shelter. There's a storm brewing."

End pt 10

Author's Note: Here's the site about the ametrine stone: http: / crystal-cure. com /

**Allen Pitt**: Thanks for the review! It would be interesting having the twins at Hogwarts together.


	11. History Lesson

Title: Tá An Cogadh, pt 11

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"Okay," Faith drawled trying not to get frustrated. "Explain what a Horcrux is."

Mircea inwardly sighed; they'd been going over things since they returned three hours previously, before meeting his young charge's eyes. "A Horcrux is deeply involved magic that allows the caster to preserve some of their soul." He explained. "For example, when one kills another person their soul becomes fragmented – only slightly – but Horcruxes allows the killer to expel a piece of their soul into an object." Pausing for a moment as he held up the object on the table before commenting, "-a book for instance."

"Okay." Faith nodded before rubbing her face with both hands. She felt a headache coming on and without meaning to she reached for the obsidian stone that was still hanging around her neck and felt positive energy start flowing. "So basically what you're saying is that Voldemort split his soul trying to become immortal." She said plainly receiving a curt nod from the man seated in front of her. "Wouldn't it have been easier to become a vampire?"

Mircea laughed, "-vampires can still be killed. Vampires are not seen as anything more than a half-breed by most people within the British Ministry. As I understand it, there are some vampires that walk around within the wizarding world but they don't have exactly the same rights as wizards and witches."

Faith smirked, "-well they kind of are half-breeds." At his look she elaborated. "I mean, to be reduced to feeding off of a living person, animal or what have you to remain undead and sane – it's a half-life at best." She saw his lips turn into an amused smirk and asked, "-what?"

"Nothing," he attempted but she raised her eyebrow. "Its amusing that you'd spent so much thinking about vampires' existences."

She nonchalantly shrugged, "-it's Angel's fault." She frowned at the thought of the dark haired vampire and came to realize that she missed the broody guy. She wondered how he handled her...uh, escape from the prison. Shaking her head to clear her thoughts she questioned, "-so how many did Voldemort create and where do we start?"

"I've tried to narrow down the scope of items that could possibly mean something to the dark wizard." He answered pulling out the book that held all of his notes. Faith leaned forward to watch him flip through the well-used pages filled with his neat penmanship. "I also had to do some research as to who he was before he became the dark wizard and find out what I could about the wizarding world."

She sat back and watched him with a calculating stare. "Why do you care so much about Voldemort?" She asked watching as he paused in his page flipping.

"Because he took everything I had and destroyed it."

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Before anyone realized it, spring was chasing winter away. Hermione took to wearing the stone around her neck; she'd charmed a black cord to hold the stone, feeling that it not only kept her close to her sister but it also kept her from withdrawing into herself again. Her friendship with Cormac bloomed into something that she wasn't sure what to call it. They went to Slughorn's Christmas party together, went together to most of the Hogsmeade visits and went to all the Slug Club gatherings together. Cormac was different than Harry and Ron – who she cared for a great deal but they were like her siblings – the wiry haired teen saw her as a witch someone who he greatly liked. He was even different than Viktor who had asked her to Yule Ball in her fourth year and continued to write her letters, but they were happy being friends.

Cormac was still arrogant and annoyed the heck out of her sometimes – but her sister's words came back to her. _Also, don't settle. Find someone that completes you, someone who challenges you and someone who respects you._ She was only seventeen and she was most certainly not looking to get married once leaving Hogwarts. She still had so much to experience, plus there was the war that was looming closer. But it was nice to have a man appreciate her as a woman.

Her thoughts did drift towards her sister more often than not; wondering if she was healthy and happy or even if she was still alive. She also wondered about Mircea and whether or not he was involved in her sister's new "calling". Well either way, she hoped that everything was going okay and hoped that she would see her sister again.

For now, she would just continue to put one foot in front of the other. One day at a time, Ginny suggested when she found Hermione alone and crying. She was so grateful to Ginny because the other girl didn't ask questions just pulled her close in a comforting hug. Ginny murmured words of comfort that didn't sound much like words at all until she had no more tears to cry.

"I'm telling you, he's up to something." Harry's voice broke into her internal musing.

"He's always up to something, Harry, he's a Malfoy." Ron replied.

Hermione looked up to see her two friends standing in front of her. "You're not still on about that, are you?" She asked quietly.

"Yes." The boy wonder hissed. "I'm telling you, I heard him and Snape –", he plainly ignored her hiss of _Professor Snape_, "-talking about an unbreakable vow."

Hermione leaned forward. "Perhaps they were, but what are you going to do?" She questioned. "Professor Snape is a professor and a member of the Order." She was talking so softly the two had to lean forward to hear what she was saying.

"I still don't trust him." Harry said.

Hermione sighed, "I wouldn't expect you to."

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Faith looked at Mircea's notes; he'd walked out after he'd answered her question about why he cared. He didn't elaborate and she didn't ask him to. She wasn't obtuse, she realized it was a touchy subject based on his reaction to her question – it didn't make her any less curious as to what he was hiding from but she wouldn't push. He'd told her a bit about his past, not much to build on but it was baby steps and she couldn't force him to tell her anything.

She'd skimmed through most of what he'd written until she found something about Hogwarts. She sat in the chair he vacated and tucked her feet underneath her.

_Voldemort, who is also known as Tom Marvolo Riddle, was born on December 31, 1926 to Merope Gaunt – a pureblood witch – and Tom Riddle, Sr. – a muggle. His father left his mother after she stopped using the love potion she'd been giving him for several months feeling that he loved her enough to stay with her while carrying his child. Merope died shortly after naming her son. Tom Riddle, Jr. was left to be raised in an orphanage – name of orphanage unknown, but it appears to have been run by a 'Mrs. Cole'. He attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry from 1938-1945 and was sorted into Slytherin. He is the only known heir to Hogwarts founder Salazar Slytherin._

_Founder Salazar Slytherin was reportedly against muggles and muggleborns and disliked having them attending Hogwarts. They say that in the school there is a beast that sleeps until it's needed to clean out the school of the muggleborns. No one is sure what the creature is or whether it is more than a mere myth started a thousand years ago when the school was created._

She skimmed over the rest of Voldemort's history. It was important, but she gathered that he was ashamed of his muggle father and that's why he became a blood-purist. She caught snippets reveling that he'd killed his father and his paternal grandparents while he was still attending Hogwarts.

_Those that were close to Tom Riddle as a teenager said that he feared death over everything – it was also said that this is when he started planning his back-up plans incase he was killed or died. He became obsessed with the idea of achieving immortality becoming his main goal over ridding the world of muggles and muggleborns. To live forever without fear of dying. There have been slim references to dark magicks called Horcruxes. This is where the soul is split – usually because of murder as this is when the soul becomes fragmented – and a bit of the person's soul is trapped within an object. Generally this is something close to the person but wouldn't be obvious._

_These items are what I believe are Voldemort's Horcruxes._

_Marvolo Gaunt's ring – located at the Gaunt home_

_Salazar Slytherin's Locket – unsure of location, possibly has been destroyed_

_Helga Hufflepuff's cup – possibly within a loyal follower's possession_

_Rowena Ravenclaw's Diadem – Hogwarts?_

_These are possible Horcruxes._

_Harry Potter_

_A diary – I'd heard stories about a diary which preserved a memory of Voldemort as a 16 yr old. Not sure what happened to it or where it is or if it was actually in existence._

Faith rubbed her forehead; this was obviously more involved than she'd originally thought. Well, that's not nearly the truth of it, she didn't know what she thought was going on. She just knew that Mircea came to her and broke her out of jail telling her that she was needed. She knew that there was a prophecy saying that there was a warrior needed and that they'd be the sacrifice but that was about it. They'd been training her for weeks before she was suddenly backpacking in England. And yet, with all the uncertainty lying around her, she couldn't even find herself heartbroken over the fact that she wasn't in jail right now.

Standing she left the hotel room. She and Mircea had collected one of _six_ Horcruxes at the Gaunt's home and she was happier being in London than backpacking through Little Hangleton where they had been. They hadn't done anything with it, other than wrapping it in a thick piece of cloth and taken it back to London, where they were set up headquarters. She knew he had those in the Coven working out the best way to rid the ring of Voldemort's soul without injuring themselves in the process.

Grabbing Mircea's leather jacket she pulled it on over her navy blue shirt and black jeans she exited the room. She needed air to clear some of her thoughts. She knew that her task was to be the sacrifice; she just wasn't sure how they were going to release the Horcrux within Harry – if there was indeed one within the teen. Death wouldn't be so bad, Buffy'd died once and she was able to come back. Then again, that situation was far different than the one Faith found herself in.

Suddenly she felt a heavy hand on her left shoulder. Instinctually she grabbed the persons hand with her right hand; she stepped back at a slight angle before her left arm came up and catching the person's arm with her elbow and pushed down. She heard the bones crack as he cried out as he fell towards the ground.

"My mistake." The sandy haired man cried from his crouched position. "I thought you were someone else."

Hearing his pain filled words she immediately knowing that he wasn't here to hurt her she released the pressure on his arm. "Who are you?" She asked.

"My name is Remus Lupin." He gasped. "I thought you were a friend of mine, Hermione Granger."

Hearing her sister's name and realizing it was simply a case of misidentification she slowly reversed her movements and released his arm without causing further pain to the man. She watched as he stood up and brought his arm towards his body. "Sorry about that." She murmured.

"'s okay." He cringed. "I shouldn't have snuck up on you." He added before meeting her eye. "You really do look like my friend though."

She inwardly cringed, recalling that her hair had been curly when she left the hotel room after the steaming hot shower she'd taken when they'd gotten back from Little Hangleton. Usually her hair would be wavy rather than curly, but the climate change had obviously screwed up her hair.

"Hope?" She heard someone call from behind her.

"Mircea." She whispered as he stepped close to her to make sure she hadn't been hurt. "I'm fine." She assured him.

"Are you alright?" Mircea asked the man holding his arm close.

Remus looked at the tall man who had his arm wrapped carefully around the brunette woman. They looked like a perfect match of dark and light that it was hard to take his eyes off of them. "Nothing that can't be fixed." He assured the man knowing that when he got back to Grimmauld Place he was going to fix his arm with a simple healing charm and potion – that or call Madam Pomfrey for help.

Mircea looked down at Faith and asked, "-what happened?"

"Nothing really, sir." Remus cut in.

"You're kind, Mr. Lupin." Faith said carefully – recalling that he had given her his last name just after she'd broken his arm at the elbow and was going to snap his wrist. "A mistake of identity." She explained. "I used self-defense because I didn't know who was behind me."

Mircea's eye brow rose at what she called the man in front of them before frowning at her explanation of what happened. "We should take you to the hospital." He said ready to hail them a taxi.

"No." Remus said earning a glance from the pair. "I'm fine, really." With that as his final words he turned and walked away.

"We can't just let him walk alone, Mircea." Faith whispered to which she received an agreeing nod. "Mr. Lupin, please wait." She called. She knew he was a werewolf; she could sense it on him and wondered if he realized that she was a slayer.

"Yes?"

"Please, allow me and my –"

"Husband." Mircea said and at Remus' look he grinned, "-she still not used to calling me that."

Faith wanted to smack Mircea because while she knew she didn't look 17, she knew she didn't look nearly old enough to be married. Plus they hadn't really talked about what their back story was. "Please allow us to walk you home." She continued. "I feel terrible about your arm." She added honestly.

Remus looked at the pair before nodding. "Alright, it's not far from here." He said before continuing to walk to Order headquarters.

End pt 11

**Allen Pitt**: Thanks for your review! I'm glad that Faith doesn't come across as too trusting - I don't think it's in her nature. Being Hermione's identical twin could be problematic - don't you think?


	12. Changing Winds

Title: Tá An Cogadh, pt 12

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As they neared #12 Grimmauld Place, Remus caught sight of Tonks – he didn't think he'd ever been so happy to see the witch who had become slightly despondent lately. He liked her, but he was a poor wizard, financially speaking, and a werewolf. He couldn't bear to do anything to wreck her life by becoming involved with her. "Tonks." He called lightly pleased that she heard him before she was able to pull forth the Order headquarters – not that the two at his side would be able to see it but they would be able to see the witch disappear into nothing. "I'll be fine from here. Tonks is a roommate of mine."

"Wotcher Remus." She greeted smiling. "You alright?" She asked when she noticed him cradling his arm.

Remus smiled tightly, "-fine." Really he was, the searing pain had dulled slightly and his arm just felt really numb. But that could be because of his werewolf healing. "Tonks, this is Mircea and Hope."

Tonks looked at Hope and her eyes opened wide. "She's a spittin' image of Hermione." She whispered none too quietly to Remus.

Faith heard her words and said, "-ah yes, that's the unfortunate reason Mr. Lupin's arm is injured." She paused. "He snuck up behind me and instincts had me reacting."

Tonks whistled, "-wow."

Mircea quite uncomfortable with the way Tonks was looking at them – Faith especially – and changed topics. "I would like to apologize once more, seeing as your friend is able to see you safely home we will take our leave." He said carefully. "Are you sure you do not need any further assistance from us?"

Remus shook his head, "-no, that's alright."

Mircea nodded and led Faith away from the group. Once out of the site of the two he quietly said, "-you need to be more careful, păpuşă."

"It's not my fault he snuck up on me." She insisted immediately thinking that's what he was talking about. "Besides, what if I hadn't and he'd been a mugger or something outrageous like that? I could've been gravely hurt."

Mircea rolled his eyes, "-that's not what I meant, păpuşă." He glanced down at her seeing her trying to decipher his meaning. "I've only seen a picture of your sister, but they are correct when they say you are a spitting image of her."

Cringing she said, "-it's the hair, I know." Deciding to change topics she asked, "-who are they exactly?"

"They are part of that secret society that your sister has allied with." He answered carefully.

She nodded and they were quiet for several more blocks as they got closer to their hotel. "Husband?" She asked as she recalled what he'd said to Mr. Lupin about them.

He laughed, "-caught that, did you?"

She glanced up at him, having him this close to her reminded her that she was shorter than him – the top of her head reaching his shoulder. "You never did tell me what our cover story was going to be and it –", she stopped speaking when he stopped walking and looked down at her. His eyes were intense but unreadable and she asked, "-are you ever going to trust me?"

"I trust you." He answered simply. "As far as our cover story, as you call it, I had to think of a passable way for a man and woman to be out and about together while being acceptable to have close quarters. Brother and sister crossed my mind, but we don't look nearly enough alike for that to be plausible." He explained. "I even harbored father and daughter." He stopped to laugh at the expression on her face. "You don't care for that idea?"

"No." She responded dryly.

He chuckled before moving to continue walking next to her. "Come, we have much to talk about."

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"Remus, are you sure you're okay?" Tonks asked after Molly fixed his arm with a healing charm.

Remus nodded and accepted the tea the once bubbly witch gave him. He took a good look at her – really looked at her. Gone was the bubblegum pink hair that kept her looking youthful and in its place was the mousy brown color that gave her already pale skin tone an even paler appearance. She just looked so sad – if not ill. "I'm fine, Tonks." He assured her. "I should have realized that even if it were Hermione that she would have been just as prepared to fight back."

Tonks chuckled, "-just not as well as that Hope person."

Remus nodded smiling at the humor now that his arm was set and the pain was virtually gone. "Exactly."

"She quite lovely, isn't she?" She asked softly. "Hope." She added clarifying seeing the confused look on his face.

Remus shrugged, "I hadn't really noticed." He sipped his tea. "There is one thing I know for certain, though."

"What's that?"

"Something peculiar is going on." He answered. "Sirius mentioned that Harry told him that Perdita was taken out of the prison by someone."

"And then to have a 'Hermione look-alike' show up in London." She nodded catching on to what he was saying. "It could just be a coincidence." She suggested.

Remus shook his head, "I don't believe in coincidences during wartime." Standing he added, "-least of all in the wizarding world."

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It seemed that with every mission Faith and Mircea completed they got closer and closer. She found that she did trust him, it was kind of hard not too when he'd saved her from death on the last mission. So far they'd collected the ring, cup, locket, and were working on getting the diadem.

The coven had found the way to destroy each of the Horcruxes, but had warned them that upon doing so Voldemort would know and would mostly come after them. It was unclear whether or not he could just apparate himself to them or if he had to track the destroyed magical signals to try and find them that way. The risk of not knowing was too much to gamble on.

"Would it be safe to destroy these while at Hogwarts?" Faith asked curiously. The book Mircea had written all his notes in said that Hogwarts was one of the safest places in all of the United Kingdom.

Mircea looked up from his notes to see Faith sitting Indian style on the bed with the objects lying in front of her. She looked calm on the outside, but being in close quarters with her for nearly seven months and almost two months prior to the mission beginning he knew that she was like a volcano on the inside. It was like waiting for the explosion and they both knew it was itching to come out.

He knew that to release some of her aggressions she went out at night to patrol and thus far had come home with only minor bumps and bruises. He also knew that she was trying to prevent him from seeing them because she was covering them up with make-up and clothing while taking the stand against letting him heal her with magic – no matter how she got the injury or how bad they were. In actuality, her natural healing kicked in quicker than he'd imagined and she was normally fine the following morning.

The only exception was right after they returned from Gringotts after getting the cup but that was because she'd been burned by the dragon's fire and the stinging hex on the cup. She didn't say a word to him, simply walked past him when they got back to their hotel room and into the loo where she didn't come out for more than an hour. He'd been worried that day and remembered walking to the door to knock to check on her when she opened the door dressed only in one of the hotel's towel. He thought she looked better, but he could still see the residual burn marks on her flesh as she moved around him to get a change of clothes before disappearing into the loo once more. That was a few days previously and he could still see the faint outlines of where the burn marks were.

"I cannot say for certain." He answered. "Hogwarts is protected with multiple wards but I'm sure even the dark wizard will not rest until he's tried to reclaim his Horcruxes."

Faith nodded, "-was afraid of that." She saw his smirk and rolled her eyes. "Any word from Severus?"

Mircea replied, "-yes, I received a note from him last night while you were out. He says that they've increased the security on Hogwarts but that he's looking for a way to get us inside without anyone noticing."

"It's getting close, isn't it?" She asked covering the objects with the individual cloths before putting them in a bag and putting it aside.

"Yes."

"Do we know how we're going to handle it if Harry turns out to be a Horcrux?" She asked, pulling her knees to her chest as she leaned back against the headboard.

"Yes."

"Do I want to know about it right now?"

"No." He watched as she valiantly tried to keep her emotions in check, but when the first tear fell his heart ached at the sorrow in her eyes. He slowly approached her; sitting on the edge of the bed he leaned towards her and brushed the lone tear from her cheek with his thumb. "I'm –"

"Don't." She whispered not wanting to hear him say 'I'm sorry'. "Don't think." She whispered touching his hand with hers. "Just feel." She pleaded. Nodding he leaned closer to her and gently kissed her lips before pushing her to lay on the bed.

888

Albus sighed as he sat down at his desk. Something was going on in the world outside of Hogwarts and he wasn't sure if it was a good or bad thing. He'd just returned from a short visit to one of Voldemort's relative's house. He was sure that the ring would be there, but he searched throughout the house to find that it was not – his source had either been wrong or someone had gotten there first. He wasn't sure which he hoped it was. If his source was wrong, he could deal with that, but if someone had beat him to it...well that could either be the spell for disaster or, well it could be someone helping them.

A knock on the door pulled him from his musing. "Ah, Severus." Albus greeted upon seeing the Defense professor. He gestured for him to take a seat.

"You asked to see me, Headmaster?"

"Yes, are you aware if Tom has been gathering his Horcruxes?" Albus asked deciding to get straight to the point.

"Not to my knowledge, no." He answered. "Is there a reason you're asking, Headmaster?"

"I was at the Gaunt's residence earlier looking for something and it was not there." The older wizard responded. "I had meant to go retrieve the item earlier but I was unable to until now. Now I worry that either Tom is collecting his items to protect them or that someone is getting their first to take care of the soul."

Severus nodded thoughtfully. "I see. I haven't heard if the dark Lord fears immediate death at the moment – he's fairly confident at the moment. As I'm aware he has his sites set on something else."

"Ah, yes." Albus nodded. "I knew that was going to come up soon." The old wizard sighed looking out the closest window to his desk. "How is he fairing?"

Severus didn't balk at the question. Each of them knew what was to come and yet neither could find the power to stop it. "He's becoming more withdrawn. Even though he won't speak to me, I can tell he's worried."

"I feared as much." Then he met Severus' eye. "I need you to do whatever is necessary to help him, Severus." He said softly. "I fear that my time is drawing to a close." Severus looked ready to interrupt. "Please, Severus. You're the only one I trust to do this."

Reluctantly he nodded, "I will."

End pt 12

Author's note: Translations; in Romanian păpuşă means poppet

I got the translation from this website: http: / / www. stars21. com / translator / english_to_romanian. html (don't forget to take out the spaces)

I want to give my heartfelt apologies for taking so long to update this story. My muse took a slight vacation while the hands of RL gripped a hold of me tightly. I'm hoping that it's passed, but I cannot and will not make any promises. Thank you to everyone who has requested emails when I update, those that have reviewed I enjoy reading your thoughts, and those that have added this labor of love to their favorite story list.

**Allen Pitt** – Thank you for your wonderful review! I laughed when I read it. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

**Jonakhensu** – Thank you for your review! I suppose anything is possible. Hope you continue reading this story and commenting on things you notice.


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